


Gauntlet

by carmenta



Category: Vampire Chronicles - Rice
Genre: F/M, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2001-10-01
Updated: 2001-10-01
Packaged: 2017-10-08 02:40:32
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 38,343
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/71846
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/carmenta/pseuds/carmenta
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Talamasca takes the first step in their attempt to fight the vampires.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Gauntlet

_Lestat_

We had come to this city in Canada shortly after leaving our flat at New Orleans. I would have rather gone to Paris, but given the current unrest within the Talamasca I had no choice but to accept that we came here, at least for a while. So here we were, my beloved fledglings, Louis and David, and Merrick, Louis' child... We had formed a coven of sorts, a coven that I hoped would endure the passage of time, though the seeds of its destruction had been already planted by the very child who had enchanted my beloved Louis. Merrick Mayfair, former Talamascan, Witch of Endor if I was to believe my dear David's explanation of the whole tale. A fledgling vampire for all I knew, a witch who had lost her powers, the same that had happened to Maharet and Mekare so long ago. Her soul would always be a part of that spiritual world, and maybe her Great Nannane was taking care of her right now, like she supposedly had tried to do that night when David had approached her. But the truth was that Merrick was now unable to cast a spell or hear the minds of those who chose to shut her out.

I was one of them. I didn't trust her, even though I had given her my blood. I had done it out of love for Louis, choosing to be kind to the object of his affections and not repeat old patterns that had created a wedge between us in the past. My mocking of his ladylove, Babbette Freniere had been the source of many a problem between us, and my reckless making of Claudia. I still shuddered when I thought how close I had been to lose Louis because of her.

Had it really been Claudia's spirit? Merrick doubted it, and I was inclined to believe that both David and Louis believed it was really Claudia who had come that night. We hadn't discussed it. Louis was still too fragile in spite of the new strength my blood had given him. And David was most disturbed by this all, so I had chosen not to add to his distress. I felt somewhat guilty of all that had happened to them. If I had not been lying immobile on that dusty floor, if I had not been lost in that dreadful world of nightmares and dreams... But now I was back, and the past was past, and I intended to protect them.

Even from Merrick. It didn't matter how much blood I had given her. She was still young and she could be destroyed if the elders decided it was necessary. I was not about to allow it, of course. But I was doing it only for Louis and David's sake. I couldn't see anything extraordinary in her, and I couldn't forget that it had been her fault that those miserable mortals had dared to threaten us. I should have done away with them instead of paying attention to David and Merrick's pleas, but again I had done it for their sake. But I was already regretting it, and I might just go to them one night and wipe them away.

"Lestat?" A pair of beautiful green eyes where looking at me from a beautiful face framed in silky black hair. Only looking at him was worth the effort of walking the Earth again. I had yet to understand why my love for life seemed to be gone. But maybe the key to my salvation was in those green eyes that kept staring at me with concern. "Is something wrong?" I could feel Merrick and David hovering in the background, but I paid no attention to them. I was focused on Louis.

"Why do you ask, mon cher? Have I been sitting here for too long?" The distress on Louis' face was so obvious that I started worrying about it myself, though I was enjoying greatly having his full attention.

"We have been here for a while, and you didn't seem to notice us at all," Louis continued, placing a hand on my right arm. I didn't try to hide the small shiver that raced through my body at his touch. Deliberately I stared at him, though I must confess I was wondering if something was really wrong with me.

"He has not taken any blood since he woke," David said, coming closer. Merrick stayed still in the background and I was glad for it. Only then I turned my attention to David. His brown eyes were glittering in the candlelight... maybe the fact that I had lighted candles had also worried them. But I liked the scent and the intimacy. Louis gave his place to David and I almost reached for him. But I didn't want to hurt David. "Come with me, Lestat," he said gently. "You need to hunt, we can take only a small drink if you want."

No, drinking human blood didn't seem an option anymore... but then did it matter? I had been to Heaven and Hell, and I had come back with more questions than answers. What did it matter if I took mortal blood again?

I shook my head, though. I couldn't find a reason to stop my long fast. Again I looked at Louis. He came at my side at once, though I could feel a small glimmer of disappointment coming from Merrick. I turned my eyes to her briefly, and almost smiled when she shivered under my gaze. Louis was hauling me up to my feet, and I was leaning on him as he led me to my bedroom. I had him again in some strange way, and I would have him back completely. I had just to wait.

But patience had never been my forte, and so once we were alone in my bedroom I raised a hand to touch his face, and I could see a faint tint of crimson coming to his cheeks. He didn't dare back away, though, and he allowed me to trace the length of his lips, his jaw and finally bury my fingers in the silky mane. He was trembling slightly when I stopped and looked into his eyes. I was sure that Merrick had never made him feel like this. But I couldn't push my luck, so I withdrew and turning around I sat on the bed, staring up at him.

Louis knelt on the floor and took my hands in his, gazing worriedly into my eyes. I wish I could assure him that I was alright, but I was not so sure myself. And I didn't want him to leave my side. "What is wrong with you, Lestat?" he asked again. "We are all worried... You seem to be in another world, far away from us, as if you would go back to your long slumber."

"And what would you do if I went back to sleep, my Louis?" I asked quietly. "Would you stay at my side? Or would you wander about with your child?"

The shock on his face meant that I had hurt him, and I regretted it instantly. I wanted him back, and hurting him didn't seem the wisest way of achieving my purpose. Ah Lestat... you have ruined it all...

"I know why you ask this," he said, eyes cast down. "I know that you have the right to be angry because I chose to leave this world without waiting for you to wake. But I was there one night, and I explained it all to you! And you didn't seem to hear me... I was alone, and I didn't see any more meaning in life. You abandoned me..."

I stared at him, open mouthed and unable to speak for a while. I had never thought that Louis would speak these words to me! Was it the blood that made him bold enough to blame me for what had happened to him? But no, he had always done it. He was the same, fortunately. I couldn't have borne to see that my blood had changed him in such a fundamental way. Even if he still thought I was to blame for all the misguided decisions of his life. Only twice he had made the right choice, and that was why he was here with me.

"I never believed you would miss me so..." I started to say, but then stopped when I saw the guilt written all over his face.

"How could I not miss you?" he whispered, a suspicious red sheen coming to his eyes. "You are my maker..." My lover, say it! "You know that I care for you..." I was about to ask why he had just decided to leave me, but his hands on my face shocked me to silence. "I don't want to see you like that again. I want to see you free from whatever held you back, from whatever rendered you in that dreadful state. I need you to be alive!"

"Why?"

He stared at me in disbelief.

"Why?" I repeated. "You are strong enough to protect yourself and your child. Why do you need me at all?"

Louis leaned on me, and placed his lips carefully over mine, and before I knew what was going on, he was kissing me! I could hardly breathe. This was happening too fast even for me... But then I gave into the kiss and shivered when his arms closed around me. Desire rose in me to the point of feeling lightheaded, but I waited passively for Louis to release me.

"I care for you," Louis repeated, looking into my eyes. And then he stood and left the bedroom, leaving me utterly confused.

I didn't move from my place. I was not willing yet to let go of the moment, of the taste of Louis' lips in mine, of the feeling of his now strong arms holding me close. It had all been so unexpected, and so strange coming from him. But I liked it. I couldn't get myself to move yet, and I was still staring at the door when David came through it. He mirrored Louis' gesture and knelt in front of me, though I was fairly sure there would not be a kiss this time. He seemed to be completely smitten by Merrick. But then Louis had seemed to be the same...

I looked at him, and I almost smiled when he let out a small sigh of relief. He sat on the bed beside me and smiled a bit. "Louis is worried for you. And so am I. And so is Merrick." No, she was not, but I didn't want to interrupt him. "Why don't you come with me, Lestat? We could hunt, the two of us together. You will feel better after it."

"I feel alright, David," I said slowly, smiling back at him. "Go ahead and hunt, and don't worry for me. I will wait for you to come back, and we could listen to some music." He stared at me, worry darkening his handsome features, and then he nodded slowly and stood. "I will be here," I repeated, lying back down on the bed. It was soft, and the covers seemed warm. I was surprised for the second time in the night when David leaned on me and kissed my cheek.

"I will be back soon," he said quietly, and then he left the room. I rolled on the bed until I was lying on my side, my back towards the door. I felt warm inside at these displays of affection. Maybe our small coven would endure the pass of time.

 

***

_Pandora_

There were nights when I missed the buzzing vivacity of the cities, their noisy charm and busy inhabitants. Being in the center of things had its own appeal. I should know what I am talking about, I had spent the first decades of my life in the greatest city of all, beautiful, eternal Rome at the height of her power.

Tonight I would rather have been on a lone mountaintop somewhere, without any human soul around me for miles and miles, so I could have screamed properly without having to bother minding the neighbors who might be disturbed if their windows happened to shatter.

"Why? Marius, I want to know what demon possessed you to make you do such a thing!" After two thousand years the man could still make me want to strangle him occasionally.

"I do not have to explain my reasons to you," he answered calmly, infuriatingly cool as he sat there in his armchair, the black leather beautiful contrast to the red of his clothes and the white of his hair and skin. Snow-white, I caught myself thinking, but stopped that line of thought before I started imagining more fairy tale clichés.

"But you will have to tell Armand when he comes to ask. Or Santino." I waited for the effect of this to strike home. After knowing someone for centuries, one got to know all the vulnerable spots, and with Marius it always worked to mention the Italian coven master. It maybe wasn't really fair, considering their mutual past, but as the far too popular saying goes, all is fair in love and war.

It didn't fail to bring the expected effect this time either. "Don't mix Santino into this. It does not concern him." Marius still sounded controlled, but there was a certain undertone of flusteredness in his voice.

"Oh, really?" I fired. "Well, in that case I'll be looking forward to seeing you explain to Armand why you thought neither he nor his lover are worth knowing that you sent those children after them." Angrily I sat back on the couch, arms crossed in front of me to maximize the impact of my scowl. I loved Marius, loved him dearly, but sometimes he just managed to drive me crazy with his attitude. Being called an elder so often in Lestat's books had apparently given him the idea that whatever he did was sage and wise.

"They wanted to visit Armand," Marius said, quite obviously struggling for calm by now, and I congratulated myself.

Unsettling Marius was a game I had been playing for centuries, and I was getting good at it finally. The only problem was that Marius had turned far too patient lately, which took a lot of the fun out of fighting. The playfulness that had been our trademark in earlier years had to some extent fallen victim to Marius' urges to prove himself to be the ultimate wise advisor. Still, occasionally we did manage to put Shakespeare's Benedict and Beatrice to shame. A smile crossed my face at the thought, which I hurried to mask. It was hard enough to make Marius take me serious even if I was not grinning like I had finally lost it.

"You should have told them before." I managed to find back to my annoyance. "You know very well how they upset Armand."

Marius sighed, a sure sign that he was about to admit defeat. "Pandora..."

"Don't you 'Pandora' me!" It was hard to stay firm against that particular tone of voice. As well as I knew to play Marius, it was true for the other way as well.

"I am not allowed to say your name?" Marius asked, a smile playing on his lips for a moment before he managed to school his face into calm blankness again.

"Not when I am trying to be angry at you," I answered.

"In that case, my dear, I will have to find other things to call you." Something about Marius' stance changed, he didn't look nearly as defensive as before.

"Good. Because I intend to be angry for a while still." My conviction of that was wavering, though. Once Marius got that sweet, harmlessly desperate look about him it was hard to stay furious.

"Stubborn woman," he told me, the smile finally winning and making his face look so much younger. "Sometimes I wonder why I put up with you."

I got to my feet in one fluid motion, one of the big advantages of having the high level of body control that came with the vampiric blood. We could stumble down the stairs and make it look graceful. Slowly I strolled over to Marius, then waited for him to hold out his arms before I settled down on his lap, back against one armrest, knees across the other.

"The same reason that I have," I told him as I leaned against his chest.

He rested his cheek against the top of my head. "And that would be?"

"Life would be so boring without you. Besides, somebody has to make sure that you don't go around doing wise nonsense."

"And that you don't go doing normal nonsense."

I snuggled a little closer to him and started running my fingers across his shoulders and chest in intricate fantasy patterns. Very light touches, but I knew Marius would feel them through the silk shirt he was wearing.

"So why didn't you tell them?" I asked in my sweetest voice.

Marius sighed deeply; I could hear that as well as feel it. "You will never give up, will you?" His arms came around me, and for a moment I wondered whether he was planning to put me down on the floor. But he did nothing except hold me, and I eventually wrapped my arms around his body in return. Fighting with Marius was good, but making up afterwards, those calm moments, were far better still.

"All I want to know is why you sent the children on their own. We could have taken them there, or Armand and Santino could have come to pick them up." I knew that I was making a valid point here. Benji was too young, at least in body, to be arranging a big journey. People would hardly give a twelve-year-old boy plane tickets nowadays. And Sybelle was so rarely in the same reality as the rest of us that she couldn't be trusted to do this either.

"Benji wants to surprise Armand," Marius said at least. "And I had no wish to keep him from doing that. He can take care of himself and of Sybelle."

It was my turn to sigh. I did not like the children overly much, but they were Marius' fledglings, and I loved Marius, so I had a right to worry about them, if only because I would have to mop up the mess that would be my beloved Roman if something happened to them.

But even though I was concerned about them, it was a relief that they were not here for once. I had never felt overly comfortable living in a coven, and that was exactly what we had been for the last five years, ever since Armand had returned from supposed death. For a while Armand had been staying with us, if out of a need to be with his maker or because of guilt towards the children I did not know. Santino had joined us as well, which had added quite a lot of interesting tension to the group. Maybe he and Marius had managed to settle most of their differences, but there probably would always be wariness between them. And that Armand and Santino had eventually become lovers had not been doing much for Marius' peace of mind.

Those two had left us eventually, a move that I could fully understand. Privacy was rare in a coven, and they needed to be on their own. And that had left us with the chore of taking care of the fledglings that Marius had made in such a rash decision. Sometimes I got the impression that he was regretting it at least a little, but towards the young ones he never showed it.

"You shouldn't have let them go like that." I punched Marius' chest lightly to emphasize my point. "Somebody has to look after them."

"Nobody will dare to harm my fledglings." Marius sounded almost piqued. "You should know that."

I refrained from pointing out that being his fledglings had hardly ever stopped anybody from trying to hurt Armand or me. Instead I raised my head to stare into deep blue eyes.

"Did you at least tell them how to get there?" I asked. The two did not have much experience in the telepathy department yet, and I doubted that Sybelle ever would master it at all.

Marius nodded. "Of course I did. Benji knows the way. And I told him to call Armand once they are near."

"I hope it all goes well, and that they don't shock Armand and Santino too much."

"Pandora, everything will be fine." Marius was starting to sound somewhat exasperated. Well, it wouldn't be him who would have to mentally search for those children if they got lost. And touching Sybelle's mind always gave me a headache. I didn't really know why, but it gave me a good reason to refrain from talking to the girl overly much. I didn't care much about her anyway. She was Marius' fledgling, that was a reason to watch out for her, but otherwise I felt no particular connection to her.

"Just admit that you are worried too," I insisted.

Marius smiled, then leaned in to kiss me, nibbling at the corner of my mouth and taking my breath away. I gave into it, enjoying this sign of affection, but once he withdrew again I fixed him with a stare.

"You're trying it again."

"Trying what?" he asked, amusement in his voice.

"Making me shut up by kissing me."

A hand found its way beneath my hair to my neck, and the soft touch of teasing fingers sent shivers down my spine.

"Does it work?" Marius inquired, running a finger along my collarbone.

I smiled at him mischievously. "I'm not sure yet... maybe you should try again..."

We shared another kiss, longer and more passionate this time, until the fledglings and their possible problems were the last things on my mind at all.

 

***

_Armand_

I was dozing lazily against Santino's chest as we lay on the carpet before the fireplace. The room was pleasantly warm, though we were probably the only ones who would light a fire at this time of the year. But warmth was something we vampires craved, and so we had chosen to spend the night in the quietness of our home. I would have never thought that I would find happiness after having to endure so much pain. I had come back from death with my two mortal children, only to lose them when my master had taken them from me. Even if Marius had meant well I had lost them forever when he had made them vampires. It had never been the same.

Santino had come to live with us even before we had decided to leave New Orleans. It had surprised me, and for nights I had been anxious and curious, unable to do anything but look at him from afar. But one night he had come to me with a chess set in his hands. And after spending hours playing we had started to talk, and to know each other again.

Had I been in love with Santino since those long gone days in Rome? I couldn't say for sure. He had been my coven master, the ruler of our small and dark world. I had been his student, and for that I had been able to see glimpses of his true self. But it had never been enough, and finally he had chosen power over the possibility of love, and he had sent me away. Had I stayed, things might have been different, and maybe we would have left the coven together when the time had come. But it was past, and the time lost could not be recovered. Immortals as we were, all we had was the present and the future.

And I was finally happy.

And so we were together in this warm night, and my head was resting in his lap, and his hand was gently brushing my hair off my face. Soft lips parted mine, making me shiver when the blood entered my mouth. I reached for him, holding him tightly and scrapping my own tongue in his fangs so our blood mixed. Heated words followed, and as he kissed me again I buried my hands in his silky mane. The elastic band that held his curls was dutifully disposed off, and moments later I was lost in a world where Santino and I were the only living creatures.

"I love you," I whispered softly when we had returned to a lazy dozing. And I still can't believe that you love me too... "My beloved..." I pulled him down for a light kiss and then I returned to my place in his lap, sighing contentedly.

::Love you too, ragazzo... always did, always will, believe me...:: I could feel the love in Santino's mind voice, and I sank a bit more into my personal heaven, wishing that time would allow us to walk together through eternity. Long fingers had returned to stroke my hair, almost lulling me to sleep, and I closed my eyes, trusting my lover to protect me.

But our happy night was about to end. Not a moment had passed since Santino had gathered me closer when a powerful call I could not ignore reached my mind. Lestat. I gasped in surprise, which earned me a concerned look from Santino. I sat up and placed my hand in his, waiting to hear what Lestat had to say. The last time we had seen him, my dark brother had returned to his slumber on the dusty floor of that chapel. It had been painful to leave him, but it had seemed as if we could do nothing else for him. And now it seemed that he was awake again. I wasn't sure if he had also contacted Santino, so I opened my mind for my lover to hear it all.

Lestat sounded weary, though glimpses of his old personality came through as he talked. For a moment I was too surprised to really understand what he was telling me, but then his words started to make some sense, and images came through our mental connection, and it was then when the immensity of what had happened struck me. Lestat was saying that David and Louis had contacted Claudia's ghost through a powerful witch, and that as a result Louis had tried to end it all! I could feel my lover's arms supporting me as I struggled to absorb it all. Only then I realized that I was trembling.

::Louis is safe now,:: Lestat's mind voice continued. ::I gave him my blood and as a result he is as powerful as David now. But there is something I have not told you...:: Images replaced words again and I saw a young woman of long dark-brown hair and glittering green eyes. And I knew that she was a vampire!

::WHO?:: I demanded. ::Who brought through another Talamascan?::

Louis' image filled my mind. I was speechless, my mind racing with all the possibilities and danger this might bring about. A witch, a member of the Talamasca, and one who had cast a spell on Louis in order to have her way. She was one of us now, but it had been through treachery and deception. I could feel contained anger coming from my lover, and I knew that he was feeling the same anger as me, the same concern for our safety. And when Lestat told me that he and his fledglings had left their flat at Rue Royale because the Talamascans had dared threaten them, the anger inside me was so great that it shattered our mental connection.

"We have to do something about this," I said, looking at Santino. "We cannot allow those mortals to rule our lives. I cannot understand why Lestat has accepted this!" The connection was not established again, and I could feel Lestat's mental presence receding. Strange...

"Because the Talamascans left him no choice if he did not want to hurt one of his children," Santino said, cold anger dripping from his voice. I could see the coven master already focused on finding a way to eradicate the danger, and I knew that my lover was not going to back away on this. Neither was I. Those mortals had crossed the line this time! "Lestat should have stopped this madness before it got as far out of hand as it is now," Santino continued, standing and pulling me up to my feet.

"That woman, the witch..." I sighed, running a hand through my hair. I really hoped that Merrick Mayfair had lost any trace of her powers with the infusion of Louis' blood. "Why the hell had Lestat to give her his blood?" I was about to ask Santino if he believed that the elders knew about this already when another mental call halted me.

::Armand? At last! It's Benji! How are you? I am here with Sybelle!::

Benji...

Santino looked at me inquiringly, but it was brief, and for the grim look on his face I realized that Benji had contacted him too. My lover had never felt comfortable in their company. And I couldn't blame him. The truth was that I felt extremely uncomfortable in my children's presence now. And I felt guilty because of it. After all it had been my fault that they had been turned into vampires. I should have known that it was not safe to take them with me.

"I wonder why they didn't call in advance before coming..." I started to say. I could feel Benji and Sybelle rapidly approaching our house. They seemed to be so happy, and that only increased my guilt. I was such an ungrateful creature...

"What happened to them was not your fault, ragazzo," Santino said, cupping my chin in a hand. I nodded. We had spoken about this before, and I knew that he was right. But still I couldn't shake the guilt off my soul.

"I wish they had not come," I said, leaning in his embrace and trembling slightly. Santino held me close, kissing my hair and murmuring soothing words until I was calmer. "I suppose we should be opening the door," I said after a while.

 

***

_Santino_

Sighing softly, I placed a last kiss on Armand's forehead before releasing him. "It might be better if you go. I don't want to frighten the girl." Out of some reason Sybelle occasionally reacted badly to my presence, but I had no idea whether it was something I was doing or saying that caused her to get that panicked look. Reading her mind had not helped at all, her thoughts were too jumbled to really make sense of them.

Armand nodded, his expression understanding before it shifted towards unsettlement. "She is mad," he said softly. "Marius should never have brought her through."

I could only agree with that, but stayed silent and waited as he headed for the door to let them in. Armand knew how I felt about the children, that their presence made me uncomfortable. Living in the same house with them had been a trying experience, something I had only done because Pandora and Armand had been there as well. I cared about Marius' two older fledglings; Pandora had been my friend for centuries, and as for Armand... I felt guilt for what my interruption in his life had caused, and I had wanted him to know this. Maybe I had been subconsciously searching for redemption.

When Marius and I had gone to destroy all proof of his death in the sun, I had told the Roman that I loved Armand, and I had meant it. But I had never dared hope that Armand would be able to feel the same for me, and that we truly could overcome our mutual past. For all that it was worth, I regretted deeply that I had ever hurt him, and loving him, cherishing him with all my heart was the sweetest penance I had ever known.

From the direction of the entrance I heard the excited babbling of Benji, cheerful as always, occasionally interrupted by the deeper tones of Sybelle's voice. So far they were coping with their existence as vampires, though whenever I looked at them I had to wonder how much longer they would last. Marius had created two lost souls when he had made them his children, and I was certain that he knew what he had done to them, that Benji would come to loathe his too young form in time, and that Sybelle would hardly be able to defend herself against the madness that threatened us all over the centuries.

"How has your trip been?" I heard Armand ask in a friendly voice. It was admirable how patient he could be with the children, how careful. Almost as if he feared they would shatter if he did not treat them with the utmost care.

Again Benji started chattering, about a plane flight and then a taxi ride, and how fascinating it all had been and that he wanted to do it again. It still seemed strange to me that Marius had not accompanied them here. Letting those two children travel on their own was dangerous, for them as well as for the mortals around them. Discovery could have been so easy... but most vampires seemed to care less and less about that nowadays.

Eventually I decided to join them, hoping that my presence would not send Sybelle into hysterics. But this was the home of Armand and me, so I had the right to be in a room if I chose to do so. No crazy fledgling was going to keep me from my lover's side.

Fortunately she stayed quiet, even though a wary expression crossed her face when she noticed me. I graced her with a short smile, trying not to think that five hundred years ago I would have ordered her execution if she had been a member of my coven. Benji let go of Armand when he became aware of me, and directed his babbling in my general direction, but I did not pay much attention to him, instead I focused on Armand.

He looked decidedly uncomfortable, as if he wished that the children were far away and that we were alone, a sentiment I could fully understand. Marius had taken something important from him when he had made Sybelle and Benji his fledglings, had betrayed Armand's trust, and their presence had to be a constant reminder of it for my lover. I wished that they were not here, that I could gather him in my arms and try to coax him into relaxing and bring a smile to his face.

"We have to feed still," Benji said at a sudden, loud enough for me to shoot him a displeased look. Couldn't they have taken care of this on the way here?

Armand nodded, then looked at me for a moment, concern plain in his eyes. "You should not go out alone, Benji," he said. "I will accompany you."

::I will come with you:: It made me feel uncomfortable to see him leave on his own with the current developments. There were no Talamascans in the area yet, but still it never hurt to be cautious.

::You don't have to.:: He smiled at me softly while he reached for his shoes and laced them. ::But thank you.::

Benji was already bouncing out the door, drawing Sybelle with him. The girl wore an indulgent smile, as if she found the young boy's antics amusing.

"I will be back soon," Armand said quietly, then stepped up to me and wrapped his arms around my neck to draw me down for a sweet parting kiss that ended far too quickly when he had to follow the children. Within moments they had disappeared around the corner, looking like a young couple that was taking a younger friend or sibling somewhere.

After shutting the door again, I closed my eyes and scanned the neighborhood, searching for anything unusual. The children were bright noises against the dull background of the mortals around us, while Armand was just a hint of a shadowy presence that hovered around them. I wouldn't even have noticed him if I were not familiar with his mind. But the young ones desperately needed to learn how to shield themselves.

There was nothing that caught my attention, so I stopped my search again and went back into the parlor to quench the flames in the fireplace. I wouldn't have minded the warmth they gave, but they were too much of a reminder of the quiet moments Armand and I had shared less than an hour ago, before Lestat's call had interrupted us.

I still was not sure how seriously the Talamasca's threat had to be taken. In the past they had never been as bold as they were now, so it was hard to predict what they would be doing. And that no less than three of their members had been turned into vampires might be an incentive for them to take a more aggressive position towards us.

Sighing, I piled up new wood to prepare the fireplace for the next time we would use it. If only Lestat had killed this ungrateful witch that apparently was willing to resort to foul play in order to achieve her goals. He should not have shown mercy towards her, should have seen the danger she presented. How could we know where her loyalties lay? Louis and David were enchanted by her, and besides, the body-switching Talamascan would hardly speak out against one of his own. But I had really hoped that Lestat would have more sense than this.

There would soon be a gathering of our far-spread coven, I was certain of that. The new situation had to be discussed, we had to decide on how to proceed, what to do about the Talamascans. Perhaps it was time to put an end to their organization before they could become a serious danger for our existence. The question was how the leaders of our coven would decide, and what Mekare would decide in the end if she chose to involve herself in this.

My musings on this came to an abrupt stop when a mental scream stunned my mind into listening. After a moment of shock, I managed to concentrate on the source, and froze once more.

Benji.

And then there were more screams, pure agony in them, until suddenly complete silence reigned once more.

I was out of the door already, moving through the streets at top speed and not caring about disturbing mortals for once, when I heard Armand's voice in my head.

::Talamasca! Beware!::

Immediately I tried to speak to him, find out where he was, whether he was alright, but his mind voice was silent, and I could not find it anymore.

 

***

_Lestat_

I was awake once more, and earlier than anyone else in the house. It was usual for me to open my eyes when the sky was still on fire, when the last rays of the sun where dying in the horizon. Even when I had been a newborn fledgling, I had always been an early riser. Louis had always woken about an hour later than I, though this had changed after he had taken my blood, and now my dear Louis would wake about twenty minutes after I myself had risen. It was the same with David, who had drunk my blood after Akasha's had made me the monster I was now. The last one to rise was now Merrick.

I wished Louis would wake at my side. But he continued sleeping in his own room, alone. I would have to work on bringing him back to my bed. We had been lovers before; we would be lovers again. It was a pity, though, that even if he came back to me we would not be able to sleep together in a bed. I had done it occasionally, but with the current turmoil it was not advisable. Not at all... Damned Talamascans! I would have to solve this problem once and for all. The only thing that was stopping me was my fledglings.

I would have to find a way to do away with the elders without them noticing it until it was too late. I knew they would forgive me, they always had. Even Louis, after properly trying to kill me in some imaginative way. But in the end both my children had always accepted my ways. Merrick I didn't care about. It was her who had brought this upon us after all.

Raising a hand, I lifted the lid of my coffin, a big carved wooden chest that stood in my bedroom. The house was silent, and the air was warm, though less warmer than New Orleans would be. This city was too cold for my taste. I would never be able to understand how Marius could have lived in the Artic for so long after having been born in a place like Rome. It was not that the cold affected us vampires the same as it affected mortals. But it was not pleasant either. Vampires craved warmth, and that was not to be found in this place at this time of the year.

Running a hand through my hair I sat on the coffin and sent my mind feelers around the house to check if somebody had come in while we slept. I could not find any trace of the presence of mortals during the day. Time to get up again, but there was something I had to do before. I had to tell Armand and Marius about the new member of my family. I didn't want to risk any of them finding out about Merrick's existence and maybe doing away with her. Strong as she was now, she would not stand a chance against any of them. And I doubted my beloved dark brother would ask before reacting.

Lazily, I projected my mental voice as far as possible, searching for the familiar presence of Marius. I found him in Paris, accompanied by the beautiful Pandora. So I proceeded to tell them both about the last events in my house. They were shocked, and Pandora didn't care much to show her disapproval for Louis' actions. Marius was more careful, but I sensed his disapproval too. It was not really a surprise for me, but this was only the first step. I expected them to think about it before actually taking a course of action.

Things would be different with Armand. David had told me that Armand was currently living in Tuscany with Santino in a place called... Monteriggioni... I still had to figure out why the imp had gone off with the Italian coven master, but there would be time for it. Now I had to break the news and hope the imp didn't storm out of his house in a mad fledgling-hunting race. I reached for the familiar presence, and soon I was speaking with a completely upset Armand. He demanded to know who had brought Merrick through, and froze when I told him it had been Louis. I was counting on his shock and the fact that he cared for Louis to prevent him from overreacting, and it worked quite well. All I had to do now was hope the coven master talked some sense into Armand's head. That was, if Santino was not also thinking of doing away with Merrick.

Ah Louis... It still amazes me what a problem you have managed to create...

Withdrawing from Armand's mind, I stood, and leaving the coffin I headed for the bathroom. I was not up for a long bath tonight, but for a quick shower. So I discarded my clothes and a moment later I was under the warm spray. I was almost finished when I felt a current of alarm that shook me to the core.

It was a fledgling's cry for help, and then I felt the softer mind voice of another young vampire. They were too young, and I knew they would never have had the strength to project their mental voice like this, especially when dying. It was this invisible net that linked us all that had brought their call for help, and it was Akasha's powerful blood that allowed me to hear the cries of pain of vampires all over the world. I had chosen to shut them out for my sanity's sake, but these particular minds were linked to a vampire I loved dearly. My dark brother, Armand...

I was already projecting my mental presence as far as I could, even as I stepped out of the shower and toweled my body in record time. I reached for Armand first, but I couldn't find him. I could sense not even a glimmer of presence. Increasingly alarmed, I reached for Santino's mind, hoping to find him. I had mixed feelings about this. I expected Santino to be unhurt and able to tell me something about what had happened, but at the same time I wondered where the Italian had been when the imp had been attacked. I had not been aware when those two had decided they wanted to stay together, and I didn't like it that something had apparently gone wrong...

I was already dressed, and I could feel someone knocking at my door. It was probably David, though I really hoped it was my Louis. "Wait!" I called, without opening the door, and closing my eyes I reached for the Italian coven master.

::Santino...:: I found him at once, and he was aware of my mind touch almost immediately. Santino was apparently calm, but I could sense a glimmer of distress coming for him. It was not calming, though. It was the confirmation I needed. Armand had been attacked.

::Lestat.:: His mind voice came clear through the invisible channel, though his mind was shielded, allowing me to see only the barest glimpse of his surface thoughts while we communicated.

::What happened? Where is Armand?:: I sent, barely aware that a small meeting seemed to have formed outside my door. I could even hear Louis' voice pleading for calm.

::I can't find him. He was out hunting. There was an attack.::

::He was alone?:: I felt a spurt of anger surging inside me, but I got hold of my temper at once. I needed a clear head to deal with this.

::Not alone.:: There was a hint of something that could be anger coming from the other side of the Atlantic. And then an image of Marius' younger fledglings going out with Armand flooded my mind. So the cries of pain I had felt had been theirs?

::Who did this?:: Whoever had dared attack Marius' fledglings would soon realize it had been a terrible mistake.

::Talamasca,:: came the brief reply. And I froze.

::I will be with you in the time that takes me to fly there,:: I sent, and with these last words withdrew, hoping that Santino would still be there when I arrived. I didn't want to think that those damned elders would also take him.

Armand... If they had killed my dark brother I would never forgive myself for allowing this to happen... But then Santino would have told me if they had destroyed the imp, wouldn't he? The knocks at my door had started again, and now they were becoming insistent. Still unsettled I walked towards the door and opened it.

"Lestat! Something is wrong with Armand! I don't know how to explain it, but I can feel it!" Louis was so distressed that I felt a hint of jealousy, which I promptly suppressed. It was only natural that he worried for the imp.

"I felt it too, Lestat," David said, though it was obvious that he was less shaken than Louis. It was something new for my older child to be able to feel something like this. "Something is wrong and..."

"But what could be wrong?" Merrick interrupted him. I didn't like it at all. "Armand is a powerful vampire. Maybe something has happened to those children, Marius' younger fledglings?"

"And why would you say that?" I asked, fixing my eyes on her. "How would you know? Were you able to sense something as well?"

"No!" she hurried to say. "All I got were glimpses of something that I could not interpret. I just can't believe that someone has been able to hurt a vampire as powerful as Armand."

"I am going there now," I announced, earning surprised and worried glances from the three of them. "Armand is missing, probably hurt. You will come with me, the three of you," I stressed when I caught a glimpse of a negative forming in Merrick's mind. "David, you will take Merrick. Louis, you will come with me."

"But wouldn't it be safer for Louis and I to stay?" Merrick started to say. "If something has happened to Armand..."

"It's dangerous enough to get you too. I know. Now come." I walked past them and outside my bedroom, and I could feel the three of them following me. Louis was apparently trying to calm Merrick, but his voice sounded strained. And David was silent, probably thinking that I was going to rip the elders in small pieces. That was exactly what I was planning to do if they had dared hurt Armand.

Once we had sealed the house from outside to make it impossible for mortals to come inside I gathered Louis close and took to the air. David followed me with Merrick in his arms at once. We were heading eastwards, and I could feel my child trembling slightly in my arms. He was probably remembering his escapade to the sun. I tightened my embrace slightly, trying by this to make him feel safe. I would never let any harm come to him. I think he understood because after a moment's hesitation Louis sighed softly, resting his head on my shoulder.

 

***

_Pandora_

"I can't understand how it could happen," I said, shaking my head slowly. "It's against all our rules, and against common sense as well."

Marius stroked my hair slowly, and I relaxed against him again. "I don't quite comprehend it either," he admitted. "Louis always seemed so thoughtful about what he did, it's so completely unlike him."

We were sitting outside in the garden, right beneath the oldest of the trees there, a linden that looked ancient and would impress every mortal who lay eyes on it. To us it was less of a wonder; the tree had been a sapling when we had already been walking the Earth for more than a thousand years. But it was a comfortable spot, with the smooth bark against my back and the grass so soft beneath my bare feet. A good place for loving, and for thinking.

Resting in Marius' arms, I had been almost asleep when another mind had brushed mine with an insistence and intensity that had left me trembling for a moment. Normally shutting off the voices of others was not hard, but this touch had been far too brash to fight off. I had wanted to lash out at the offender, but the identity behind the interruption had made me hesitate. Marius' beloved Brat Prince, and he had spoken to me a horrid tale of witches and ghosts, that a Talamascan wizardress had cast a spell that had forced beautiful and gentle Louis to bestow the Dark Gift on her. That her brethren in the Talamasca were seeking revenge, that we all had to be wary. I had jerked awake once the touch had faded, only to look at Marius and find on his face the same shock that had to be showing on mine.

"Maybe we should leave here," Marius said quietly, and I felt his arm tighten around my waist.

I shook my head vehemently. "Those mortals have no right to threaten us. I won't let them force me to run just because they decide that watching us is no longer enough. You know perfectly well that they won't stop at this if we allow them to go ahead."

"But can we risk confronting them?" Marius asked. "It would only make them more eager to attack us, and those who fight always are the main targets."

"Marius, you are no longer hiding the Mother and the Father," I told him in a serious voice, not allowing my growing impatience to show. For once it seemed wiser to me to hold my tongue in cheek. "Back then it was necessary, but now there is no reason anymore to stay hidden from the mortals."

Slowly, very slowly, he turned to look at me. "I know that you have always faced the problems and not shied away from them. But it is not my way of dealing with trouble. Sometimes it can be wiser to observe and leave the other side to make the first move. Retaliating can be the better choice."

"You cannot expect me to cower in some vault when I should defend my rights as a free being," I answered, no longer quiet but also not sharp. This required a serious discussion, and reason always worked with Marius. I had managed to make soldiers kill my brother by arguing logically with them, so I could very well get my beloved Roman to at least consider my ideas.

Marius sighed softly. "Of course I can't. You never did what I wanted you to do. But I can always ask you to do so, and hope that for once you will honor my requests."

"When did I ever not?" I asked, raising an eyebrow and giving him a look of mock hurt that made him smile. "I have always been perfectly obedient." This time he laughed out loud.

"Ah, but I do love you, terrible woman," he told me affectionately as he drew me into a tight embrace. I didn't answer with words, instead I kissed his lips lightly and raised a hand to caress his face in gentle moves.

We could have gotten lost in each other so easily then, but just when Marius was about to deepen the kiss we shared and when his hands started to roam over my body slowly, a flash of agony stabbed my mind and made me freeze.

I heard Marius speak my name but couldn't react, the panic and the pain were overwhelming my mind and it took me endless seconds to separate those feelings from myself, to become aware that those were not my thoughts but came from someone else. Fear gripped me when I realized that those cries were familiar in some strange way, that I knew the voices that were screaming and finally drifted away. But just before they were gone and replaced by a terrible silence, I knew who it had been.

Benji and Sybelle.

And no matter how much I strained, how far I sent my mind to search for them, they were gone, impossible to find for me. Almost frantically I scanned the area again until my head hurt from the exertion, but it was as if the earth had swallowed them.

"Pandora, please..." A cool hand was on my face and I opened my eyes, only now realizing that I had closed them. Marius was looking at me with worry plain on his face, but why didn't he seem shaken at all? The cries had been deafening in their intensity...

Only then did I remember that he couldn't have heard them, that his fledglings had been the ones to shout and that their minds were closed to him. A mercy that he didn't have to hear this, I thought.

I was being shaken slightly, and only then did I realize that Marius had been asking me something. And once I concentrated on his voice, I could also make out the meaning of his words. He wanted to know what had happened to me, whether I was alright.

"They are gone," I whispered, my voice hoarse as if I had been screaming together with the young ones. "Marius, they are gone... " My words couldn't make much sense to him, I realized, so I tried to clarify a little. "Benji and Sybelle... they were crying out in pain, and now there is nothing..." I was struggling to get a grip on myself again, almost angry that this had disturbed me this much. But it was almost impossible until I looked at Marius once more and saw his grief-stricken expression.

That was enough for me to calm down, to know that one of us had to be strong now and that it wouldn't be him. I reached out and drew him into my arms, tried to soothe him with my touches, to make him know that he was not alone. Those children had perhaps not been created after he had known them for years, but still they had been his fledglings, and love was always part of the Dark Gift, and if it was just the enchantment of a moment.

For a long while we stayed like this, sitting under the old tree, Marius in my arms, his face hidden against my shoulder. He wasn't crying, and I hadn't expected him to do so, but he was grieving for them in his own way, and all I could do was give him my silent support.

Finally he looked up again, into my eyes. "What about Armand?" he asked.

Once more I reached out, tried to find the familiar mind touch, envisioned the youthful face framed in auburn curls, but he was nowhere to be found. I sought for him again and again, thought a few times that I had found him only to see that it had been the glimpse of another vampire's mind. He was gone without a trace. But he couldn't be dead, I knew that much. I would have felt it, just like I had felt the children. More strongly even, after all he was more powerful than them.

"He must be asleep," I told Marius carefully. "I cannot feel him, but there was no cry of pain from him."

The expression on Marius' face when he closed his eyes and raised a hand to touch his forehead was one I had never seen before. For the first time in the two thousand years I had known him, he looked completely and utterly shaken and lost.

"Armand must be alright," I said, trying to believe in my own words. "You know that he is strong."

Marius didn't say anything, seemed lost in thought, so I reached out once more with my mind, this time searching for Santino. I didn't expect to find him easily, since he always took care to shield himself, but this time it was surprisingly easy, almost as if he had been expecting it.

::It's Pandora,:: I said when I brushed his surface thoughts. ::What has happened?::

::I wish everybody would stop asking me that.:: He sounded almost weary. ::The children are dead, but you know that already, or you would not be calling. And Armand is gone.::

::What do you mean, gone?:: I probed carefully.

The mental equivalent of a sigh reached me. ::He was out to take the young ones to feed. The Talamasca attacked them, killed the children, and probably took him with them. I have been searching the entire area for him, but he is gone.::

::Are you certain that it was the Talamasca?:: Marius' mind voice suddenly cut in sharply. I was surprised that I could hear him; Santino had to be making a conscious effort to do it, not a small thing for him, considering that it meant allowing Marius into his head to some degree.

::It was the last thing Armand said before he disappeared,:: came the answer. ::There is no use in discussing in this way. Lestat is on the way here. We should meet in Sienna.::

::Very well.:: Meeting would really be the best, we had to work together to find out what had happened. I felt Marius agree as well, and then the connection broke again when Santino closed his mind to us.

I looked at Marius. "We should get going," I said.

 

***

_Armand_

I had been drifting between a hazy awareness and unconsciousness. Many times I had tried to open my eyes, but this mere gesture had been beyond my possibilities. Moving my limbs had seemed to be out of the question, though I had managed to flex my fingers a bit, or maybe I had just dreamed of it. The worst was the sickening feeling of being drugged, of feeling an alien substance running through my veins, clouding my mind and sending me back into a restless haziness every time I tried to figure out what had happened to me. Maybe this was just a bad dream and soon my beloved would come and wake me.

But this didn't feel like my bed, the cold and hard surface under me was nothing like the silken sheets or the soft coverlets that kept Santino and me warm. I tried to move my arms again, but it seemed just impossible to even move my fingers. My arms and legs were spread and held by cuffs, which placed me in a most vulnerable position, one I had leaned to fear since I had been a helpless mortal child in a brothel in Venice. Maybe this was a nightmare about those days? I shivered, fear seizing my heart in a powerful grip. Those nightmares could be frightening enough even after five centuries.

"He's waking. Double the dose." I tensed. Who was this? Again I tried to open my eyes, but it was impossible.

"He is weak enough already. I don't think..." Another voice... a mortal? Should be, but I couldn't smell his blood. What the hell was wrong with me? If this was a nightmare...

"What are you afraid of? He is a vampire." The first voice again.

::Santino...:: Where was he? This had to be a nightmare...

"He is calling for the other one." This was the second man once more. I was trembling now. If this was a dream I would soon be awake, but if this was reality...

"Let him call all he wants. He is too weak to overcome our mental shields." This was a woman, I decided, struggling to clear my mind even as the drug was being pumped into my system. "I need more blood for my tests," the woman continued. "Drain him further. That will help to keep him under control."

"He is rapidly overcoming the dose," the first man said. I winced when a needle was plunged into one of my arms. I wanted to shy away, but all I managed was to flex the fingers of my right hand. "We should double it."

"No," the woman said firmly. "I want him to be conscious for the next step. Just drain him and we will not need to worry about him escaping."

Escaping? This sounded more and more as reality. And the dizzying feeling of being drained was just too real. But how could simple mortals have managed to do this to me? I had been careful enough when... My mind was clouding again, and even as I tried to hold to consciousness darkness enveloped me.

The next time I became aware of my surroundings, my mind was far clearer than it had been before. I was lying on a cold metal slab, my wrists and ankles still bound, my body as heavy as lead. I opened my eyes, blinking when the light of a nearby lamp hurt them. When I was finally able to focus I saw an old woman in a wheelchair, looking at me. I blinked again, trying to clear my vision further, but it didn't seem to work at all. I tried to speak, but a wave of vertigo hit me, so I closed my eyes, biting my lower lip to avoid moaning in frustration. I could feel the woman's mind touching my surface thoughts, and I tried desperately to fend her off. But I was too weak, and soon the woman was making her way through my memories, forcing me to recall what had happened some hours ago.

I froze when the images of Benji and Sybelle walking with me down the streets of Sienna flooded my mind. It all came suddenly back to me. The calm evening with my lover, Lestat interrupting to tell me that a Talamascan witch had been turned into a vampire by Louis... I struggled to throw the woman out of my head, but a sharp pain cut through my brain as she fought back and vanquished me.

::You can't fight me in your current state,:: she sent to my mind. ::Do not even try. Just let me see...::

Again I was plunged into a sea of memories I'd rather have forgotten forever. I saw myself driving the children to Sienna so they would not feed in Monteriggioni where Santino and I had friends. Once in the city, we had parked the car and ventured through the darkest streets of the city, all the time trying to quiet Benji who was increasingly excited about hunting in a new place. Sybelle had been calmer, and even a little absent, but then she always had been like that, even before Marius had brought her through.

And then the searing pain in my back and the children's screams... I had been unable to move and help them, and I had heard their agonized screams as I had sunk into consciousness. I had managed to send Santino a last warning before a needle had been plunged into my arm. And now I was here in these mortals' hands. What did they want from me? Were they going to kill me?

::You are too valuable to eliminate you,:: the woman said, easily reading my mind. ::We will keep you here until Merrick comes back.::

Until Merrick comes back? I tried to form a coherent question but my brain was not working properly and all I could do was stare at the woman and wait for her to clarify.

::We want Merrick back. Your kind has defied us by taking her from us. She is deluded, but she will understand and come back to us.::

I closed my eyes, trying to sort the jumbled feelings and thoughts in my mind. Lestat had said... They had left New Orleans... Merrick... Was this woman saying that... Santino... Are you safe? Tears came to my eyes, but I swallowed them. My mind was not working well, not at all. And this woman was still inside my head, and this time she was trying to read my mind and find out about Santino...

::GET THE HELL OUT OF MY HEAD!:: There was no way I was going to allow these mortals to get to my beloved. I couldn't fail my lover now. I would not. But the effort done had completely exhausted me, and once again I closed my eyes, slipping into a semi conscious state. But even as I struggled to close my mind, I could feel that the woman was withdrawing, and I knew that I had finally managed to fend her off.

 

***

_Santino_

Gradually I woke from the death sleep, felt the tiredness fade from my body with every moment while the sun sank further beyond the horizon. My lover would be sleeping for a while still before the sun lost its grip on him as well, so I closed my eyes again in the complete darkness that surrounded us. I turned a little to reach for Armand and hold him in my arms when he woke; normally he would be curled up against me in the evening, but this night he had apparently moved away.

I moved my hand, but instead of the soft bedsheets I encountered solid walls. Next to me, on both sides and also above me, with almost no space left. And it all came back to me, the events of last night, the screams of the young ones, Armand's desperate warning, everything.

As quickly as I could I unlocked the lid of the coffin where I had spent the day, not daring to stay in the upstairs rooms of the house. There were no traces of mortals to be felt that had trespassed in our home, and I had not thought that they would, but I simply could not have risked it. Not when I had not found Armand still, when I had to continue searching for my lover and bring him back safely from wherever he was.

Last night I had been rushing through the streets until dawn had been imminent, trying to find him. The thought that he could be lying in the open somewhere, unconscious and helpless to call out or bury himself from the scalding heat of the sun had haunted my thoughts, but even when I had traced all our usual movements, had searched almost the entire network of narrow, twisted alleys in Sienna, there had been no trace of him. It was as if Armand had dropped off the surface of the world.

In the morning I had lain in my coffin, still straining my senses to find him, but without any success. All I had known when I could no longer fight off the sleep was that he had not been out in the sun, because I knew that I would have felt it as well. I was too familiar with his mind to have missed it, and this had given me some hope before I had succumbed to the unconsciousness that the day brought.

Opening the heavy door that blocked the entrance to the basement room where our coffins were, I scanned for Armand again, but still could not detect anything, and I got the same result when I searched for Talamascans. They all had to have left during the day, probably knowing very well that if they had stayed, they would not have survived this night.

But what sense made it to kidnap a vampire? And why Armand specifically? Puzzling those questions, I closed the door to the basement again and left the house. I had slept in my clothes to save time, unwilling to waste even one moment with such things when the time could be used in better ways.

Hunting happened almost automatically; I trusted my instincts and the habits of six and a half centuries to take care of it while my mind still was trying to find out just why Armand had been taken. Why not the younger ones? They would have been far easier to handle than a vampire of his age and experience, and the Talamasca had to have been aware of it. I remembered the first communication with Lestat last night, when he had told us about Louis' new fledgling. Talamascan as well. Too much of a coincidence to ignore it, especially considering the threat the scholars had sent to New Orleans.

The old man I had taken shuddered one last time before he went still in my arms, his heart silent. Carefully I hid the body, not wanting to leave any signs of an unnatural death so close to our home. We had enough problems as it was.

I had just started to search for Armand once more, hoping that feeding would have increased my strength and concentration a little, when I brushed the mind of another vampire. My heart skipped a beat, and for one happy moment I thought I had found my lover, and that his signal was strong so he had to be alright. But then there was a second mind, and I realized that I had sensed someone else, but not Armand.

::Santino? It is Marius and I,:: Pandora's voice spoke in my head.

::Thank you for coming,:: I answered, trying to suppress my disappointment as best as I could. At least now I would have help.

::We will be with you in a moment.:: Marius this time, sounding strangely quiet. I had not spoken to him often, especially not mentally because it tended to make both of us uncomfortable, but normally he sounded firmer, more determined. I realized that Armand's abduction and the death of the fledglings had to be as great a shock for him as it was to me.

::Meet me at our home,:: I told them both. ::I am on my way back already. Pandora knows how to get there.:: She had visited Armand and me for a week once, seven nights that had had turned out more exhausting than we could have possibly expected. Armand had slept through two nights when she had left, and I had not been in a much better condition. But once we had recovered, we both had agreed that having her with us had been wonderful, even though incredibly exhausting. Immortal stamina could be frightening sometimes, especially when combined with a spirit as strong as hers.

Confirmations to meet at the house came from both Pandora and Marius, then the link went silent again. Sighing softly, I turned towards the road that would take me back, not at all certain about what I was going to tell Marius. He'd want an explanation of what had happened, why I had not been with Armand, and I was feeling guilty enough for leaving him alone with the fledglings. I would really deserve his anger...

No. No thinking like this, not when I had to concentrate on the issues at hand. I had to find Armand, that was all that counted right now. Later I could always feel guilty about it.

When I came near the house, I felt another mental touch, less familiar than Pandora's this time, but with much force behind it.

::I am here too,:: Lestat told me with the usual aplomb. Then I thought I sensed a short wavering, though I could have as well imagined it, and he sent me an image of three other vampires who had come with him. Two I knew; well-mannered, quiet Louis and the obnoxious Talamascan.

But the third, a woman with dark brown hair and green eyes, with skin that had not yet been bleached by the vampiric blood, was an unknown to me. She had never crossed my way before, but since she was here in the company of Lestat and his two fledglings, it did not take much to guess who she was.

Two Talamascans in our home, I thought, frowning. Armand would not have liked it at all, and I did not appreciate it either, especially in the current situation. David could perhaps be trusted to have enough sense not to turn against what now was his kind, but the fledgling was another story.

At my arrival I found all the others in front of the house; Pandora was leaning against the wall next to the door, almost as if she were guarding the entrance. Marius stood at her side, speaking to Lestat. Grouped together a few steps away were David, Louis and Merrick. At least they had had the tact not to bring her into the house uninvited.

Lestat turned away from Marius to look at me. "I have already searched for him in the whole area," he said, anger plain in his voice. "If those Talamascans have taken him, they have already left." I suppressed a sigh at hearing that not even Lestat could find him.

"Thank you nevertheless," I answered, then shared a brief glance with Pandora to see how she was doing, and I was glad to see the light in her eyes still. That she could fall silent again was something that I really did not wish to see again.

The fledgling was running a hand through her hair nervously, as if she were feeling uneasy among so many others of her kind. Well, I surely was not going to do anything to put her at ease.

Probably noticing my glance, Lestat looked at her too, then back at me. "This is Merrick," he said as a means of introduction. Just that, nothing more, and there still was anger in his voice. Apparently he was not too pleased with her either; a good thing for me to know.

I scrutinized Merrick openly, not caring if I made her uncomfortable. Not only had she been made against the rules that said that no more fledglings were to be created, but she also came from our enemies. There was no reason for me to like her, and I wanted her to know it. Maybe she would show enough sense to stay away from me. But considering the defiant looks she gave me, she didn't believe that I could be a danger to her, something I would have to change. And I was quite certain that Lestat would not mind.

"Why have you brought the young ones here, Lestat?" Pandora interrupted the heavy silence. Her voice too sounded sharper than usual, and with interest I noticed the glare that she shot Merrick, and the answering frown. There certainly was no love lost between those two either.

"I second that question," I interjected. "Why are the Talamascans here? Are they willing to help in the search for Armand?" It annoyed me that they were here when it was their organization that had started all the trouble, that had killed two fledglings and had abducted my lover. They had no right to be here in my eyes, unless they had agreed to betray their former brethren and assist in our search. But I was not sure if they could be trusted at all.

 

***

_Lestat_

The contained anger behind Pandora and Santino's words had not escaped me, and even though I wouldn't have any of them question my reasons, I knew that they had the right to ask. The Talamascans had caused this crisis after all, and I had brought with me the one who had started it all. If those miserable mortals had hurt Armand, there would be no force on earth that could contain their anger, or mine. As things were I had not already broken into the London motherhouse only because I had considered it necessary to talk to Santino first.

I wanted to know what he had to say, if he had some clue as to where those bastards had taken Armand. And I needed a place where I could leave Merrick and trust that she would not communicate with the elders. I was not so sure if I could trust my fledglings to take care of this. David had been writing a letter to the elders the very same night we had left our flat. And Louis... Louis might still be enough devoted to her not to see the real Merrick.

"I could not leave my younger fledglings alone when the Talamascans are on a killing rampage," I said somewhat harshly. ::And I don't trust her to stay away from her people. Not yet...:: This I sent only to the three older vampires' minds. I didn't want any misunderstandings between us. I didn't trust Merrick, I had only given her my blood for personal reasons. But I expected them to leave this matter to me, and this I also let them know. That even if this hurt Louis and David, I would see that their ladylove didn't betray us.

"It would not have been wise to leave them alone," Marius said slowly, glancing to Pandora and Santino before turning to me again. "They cannot go with us either, though. Those mortals dared to kill my fledglings, and to take Armand..." Marius paused, and I could see a flicker of pain in his eyes. "If they have gone this far, they would not hesitate to attack and destroy the young ones too."

I could see David was about to protest, so I silenced him with a sharp look that stunned him to silence. It didn't matter how much blood I had given him. Those mortals were dangerous and I would not have him risk himself. And the sad thing was that I was not sure if I could trust him. As for Louis, it was obvious that he was troubled by all this and deeply worried for Armand. I could see him doing with Merrick the same I had done with David, that was, keeping her from complaining only by looking into her eyes. Good. She was his child and he should take responsibility for her. And I would keep David in check.

"I agree with Marius," Pandora said, "but I am not going to babysit fledglings when we have to search for Armand." It was quite obvious that she disapproved of Merrick's presence here, but I hoped that she would also understand that it wouldn't have been safe for us to leave Louis' child behind.

"The young ones will stay back," Santino stated, not even looking at them. "We don't have the time to take them with us and watch them." I had never seen this cold anger in any of us and I wondered if he had been like this when he was in his coven in Rome. Which made me wonder about his relationship with Armand, but there would be time for that after we had rescued the imp.

"I can stay with them," Louis said, stepping forward and looking from me to Santino. "If you allow us to remain in your house we should be safe. I doubt the Talamasca will go as far as to coming into a vampire's lair."

"They might try," Santino said. "But the chances that they get to you here are less than if you stay in the open. Stay."

"Then everything is settled," Marius said quietly. "We should be going, we only have the night to search for Amadeo."

"If you please follow me," Santino said curtly. Louis nodded, and just as he turned to urge Merrick to come inside, she stepped back and turned to Marius.

"Why don't we try to speak to them? Please... You can's just kill them!"

"Why not?" Pandora interjected. "They have taken Armand, and killed the children. They have started this and not us."

"Please Merrick," David tried to placate her, but she shook her head and moved out of his grasp, looking at Pandora somewhat defiantly.

"Because if you do away with them, the elders will have a reason to declare that we are dangerous, and this will be war. If we could negotiate..."

"We *are* dangerous. And there is nothing to negotiate," Santino said coldly.

"Louis, take your child inside," I said, fixing her in place with an angry glare. She feared me, and only now she was realizing that I was not as absent-minded as she had thought. "You will both stay out of this," I said, my eyes lingering on her before turning to David. "Any contact with the Talamascans will be considered a major betrayal. Am I clear?"

"It's perfectly clear, Lestat," David said, a hurt look in his brown eyes. I was counting on him to feel hurt, and I hated to do this to my fledgling. But it was necessary to make sure that he didn't consider communicating with the elders a minor sin. David placed a hand on Merrick's back and silently urged her to follow. She did, after shooting a last desperate glance at Marius. Louis waited for them to enter the house and then he turned to me, his eyes seeming to say that nothing would happen, that I should trust him. I nodded, and watched as my beautiful lover followed the others inside.

"Are you sure we can trust them?" Pandora asked when I turned to Marius and her. "She is terrified that we contact the Talamasca in any way, and David is too distressed to make me doubt his loyalty."

"David will do as I said. And I trust Louis to take care that Merrick doesn't try to communicate with the elders."

Pandora didn't say more, but I could see the obvious question in her eyes. Why I had given Merrick my blood if I didn't trust her? And I knew that Marius would like to know too, but he was refraining from asking. There would be time for that.

"Louis seems strong enough now to take care of that," Marius said, and I knew he was referring to a certain air of self-confidence Louis seemed to have gained along with the physical strength he now possessed. I only hoped that his strength was not surpassed by his devotion to Merrick.

I nodded, and was about to add something when Santino came out of the house, a dark expression on his face. He was holding a paper in a hand, and for the first time in the night I could see that he was not only angry but upset. "The Talamascans have taken the next step," he said, giving the paper to Marius. "This is the final confirmation that they have him."

Marius' face darkened as he read the message, and Pandora was more angry if possible. And I could feel increasing concern mixed with anger coming from Santino, even though nothing showed when I looked at him. I took the paper from Marius' hands and read.

_~~ _

_... You have forced us to take this step with your refusal to give Merrick back to us. You have taken one of our own, and so have we. The vampire Armand will not go back to you until we have our Merrick back... _

_~~_

I could feel a murderous anger blinding me, and only Marius' hand on my arm prevented me from taking to the air and not stop until I had reduced the Talamasca's motherhouses to ashes. How dared those mortals take one of us?

"They must be in the London motherhouse," Marius was saying. "It is the best place to keep... to keep a vampire prisoner. We will go there and take Armand out, but there is no need for mindless violence."

"Mindless violence?" I snapped, shaking his hand off. "They don't know what they have done by taking Armand. They are doomed." I could see the same determination on Pandora and Santino's faces, and I knew that this time Marius would not be able to prevent us from doing what we had to. "They must have hurt Armand in order to imprison him, and that means war." Again I looked at the others, waiting for a confirmation of what I had perceived. If they agreed with Marius I would go alone and take my dark brother out of there myself.

 

***

_Pandora_

Anger radiated from the young one in furious waves, an anger that I could fully understand, that I felt myself. Lestat was showing admirable restraint though; I had expected him to be on his way to the next Talamascan headquarter already, but he had not moved yet. Maybe Marius' influence on him was stronger than I had thought it to be. But it could not lessen the fury in Lestat's eyes.

"He is right, Marius," I said firmly, wanting to make it clear that I was supporting Lestat in this matter. "War has been declared openly. They have taken one of us, and that it is Armand only makes it worse. We cannot allow them to get away with it."

The boldness of the Talamascans was a surprise; I had not thought that they would ever dare to go so far as to make demands. Didn't those foolish mortals realize that all they were making an enemy more deadly than anything else on this planet? One vampire who was willing to fight would be enough to lessen their numbers, and here we were three, four if we could convince Marius that this time talking would not solve anything.

"There is no need to discuss whether we should retaliate or not," Santino stated in a voice so cold that it made me shiver. When we had arrived, there had been hints of worry behind his usual calm mask, and I had sympathized with him. Armand was dear to me too, and I could barely begin to imagine what Santino had to be feeling now that his lover was lost. But now that we knew the reasons behind Armand's disappearance, Santino had switched worry for determination. And I caught myself thinking that if those responsible for Armand's abduction crossed his path, they would not have time to regret it.

"We must not rush into this nevertheless." Marius tried to be the voice of reason among us, as he so often tried with me. But he probably knew that he was fighting a lost battle here; I had never listened to him, and neither Lestat nor Santino would accept his leadership right now.

Santino fixed him with an icy glare. "You suggest that we wait and let those scholars keep the upper hand?"

Marius glared back for a moment before schooling his face into a more pleasant expression. "I merely say that we must know what we are going to do before we take action."

I rested a hand on Marius' shoulder, hoping that he'd just admit defeat in this matter and let us move on to doing whatever necessary to rescue Armand. Marius was worried about his fledgling, I knew that only too well. But he was simply too likely to take what he deemed a wise course about this all. And wise things in the past had meant hurt for those involved. It had been wise to leave me behind in Antioch. And to never come for Armand after they had been separated.

Lestat was looking at us, and the expression on his face might have scared me in a normal situation. For once I did not see Marius' Brat Prince who was bent on causing mischief in order to keep himself entertained, but I saw the dangerous creature that he really was. A grown vampire with the blood of Marius and the Mother in his veins, powerful enough to kill with his thoughts alone. The Talamascans had to be crazy to be challenging him.

"Enough of this," he said, his voice cold. "I am going now." Once more he looked at Marius, almost as if he were daring him to say anything. And before any of us could react, Lestat took to the air and disappeared without even looking back, as if he did not care at all if we followed him or not.

I felt the urge to follow him, to finally start searching for Armand, but neither Marius nor Santino made a move to take to the air, apparently willing to let Lestat go off on his own.

"What are you waiting for?" I asked; I could not understand what was keeping them back. Santino had seemed so unwilling to hesitate any longer, and I had thought that Lestat's abrupt leaving would be enough to coax Marius into action as well. But it seemed that I had been wrong about that.

Santino held my gaze evenly when I turned towards him. "I just want to be certain that the two of you will be coming along." A short glare at Marius. "And as long as he is not agreeing to accompany us and help, we cannot leave."

Sighing in exasperation, I decided to take a different path on this. ::Santino, explain to me now why you are not with Lestat yet!:: I added a mental shake for good measure, and was satisfied when a hint of shock showed in his eyes for a moment.

::Do you want to explain to Armand why Marius stayed back?:: he asked me, his mind voice carefully controlled. ::Can you imagine what he would think then?::

::The same as he will think when he hears that his lover did not do anything:: I fired back.

Bowing his head, Santino broke eye contact between us, declaring defeat with this gesture. I felt a little bad about having said something like that, but there was no way I would just watch as he was being stupid. When I had just convinced myself to say something nice to him, he took to the air as well, heading in the same direction as Lestat without another word.

"Well," I said, turning towards Marius. "It seems that we are the only two left. Are you going to stay and babysit the fledglings?"

"Don't be testy, Pandora," Marius said sternly. "I have reasons for my decision."

"Reasons?" Great, he was going to be stubborn. Just what I needed now, I thought, rolling my eyes in exasperation. "Reasons! The Roman has reasons. What is it this time? Hiding our secrets? Keeping us safe? Marius, wake up finally! Those mortals won't negotiate a peace treaty with you, they want a war."

He looked at me calmly, unfazed by my outburst. "And you will give it to them, will you?"

Nodding with determination, I turned away from him. "Yes," I murmured. "I will. Lestat was right when he left." With those words I took to the air, rushed away in the direction Santino and Lestat had taken. Catching up with them would be easy; Lestat radiated so much anger that his mind was a bright light when I tentatively sought him out. I let him know that I was with him in this, then I withdrew again from his thoughts, unwilling to give myself a headache through this.

Santino was more welcoming towards me, and I could feel his relief at finding out that I was not staying behind. It almost hurt to see that he had thought it possible that I would leave them alone in this; Armand was my friend too, and I cared for him a lot. I wanted to berate Santino for doubting me, but when I touched his mind once more I felt the despair behind the cautious mask, and the fear for his lover. Enough to make me decide to stay silent and offer my support in other ways when the opportunity presented itself.

I wondered what Marius was going to do, if he would follow us once he had deemed the time span acceptable so he would not appear as if he could not stand being left behind. Hopefully he would realize that he could not keep out of this; Santino's words still spooked around in my head, that Armand would not take it lightly to be deserted by his maker once more. But all I could do was hope that Marius would realize it as well, and that he would for once take the unwise choice.

 

***

_Armand_

Cold. I was so cold that I might as well be dead. But I was not dead. That much I knew. I was alive and lying on the ground in some underground vault. I shivered. This was too much like the catacombs in Rome, and many times I had found myself waiting for either Santino or Allesandra to come and liberate me. This was not good... my mind was drifting dangerously. If I let the fears of the past take me I would lose all sense of my current situation.

I wasn't even sure what my current situation was...

I had to be drugged. Nothing else could explain the sluggishness in my mind when I tried to form a coherent thought. And the overall weakness I was feeling. The simplest physical movement required all my concentration, and when I did move it was slow and left me exhausted. I was cold, and I was beginning to feel scared.

Where are you Santino? Why are you not coming to take me out? I will submit... I will... No! I shook myself, trying to regain control of my thoughts. This was not Rome, and I was not locked in a cell in the catacombs. And Santino was not my new master but my lover, and he would come for me soon. He must already had to be looking for me...

I shivered. At least I was not tied down to that cold metal slab anymore. And I was alone. I had felt her mind probe as soon as I had opened my eyes, and I had fought back fending her away. She had not pressed, but I had felt her later, and I had felt other weaker minds too. They all had come over me as one, and still I had managed to keep them out. But I was completely exhausted now, and I knew that I would not be able to resist for long.

"You thirst." A voice, cold and soulless came from the darkness. I trembled, closing my mind as tightly as I could. "You wanted to submit. That would be the best for you. I would take you out."

I shook my head, moving back slowly until my back touched a wall. She was trying to make me think of Rome again, and I was not strong enough to resist her. I could feel her mind probing once more, and the way she mercilessly shattered one mental wall after the other until she found those memories I had tried to hide from her.

"Are you afraid, child?" she whispered, her voice sounding too much like Allesandra's now. I could not see her, only the outline of her figure in the wheelchair was visible in the darkness. Had the drugs affected my vampiric vision too? Her image was growing and she now was tall and majestic, like Allesandra had been. I moaned aloud, still trying to throw her out of my mind.

"I will take you out, but first you have to submit. I have to see in your mind, child. Stop fighting me."

Her voice was so soft now, and it was slowly lulling me into submission. I stopped fighting her, and only trembled slightly when she continued her way through my mind. She was looking at it all, my life, my fears... my loved one... As soon as she touched those particular memories I struggled to fight back and fend her off. I would not let her have him! I wouldn't... But I was losing and she was pressing harder, causing me pain. And suddenly the assault stopped, and I could feel a flicker of alarm in her. Out of sheer instinct I entered her mind and what I saw there froze me. A sharp pain in my head was the signal that she had sensed my invasion. And then everything dimmed around me, and I lost consciousness.

I couldn't know how much time had passed when I opened my eyes again. I was alone. A veil of silence seemed to have been thrown around me. I could feel nothing, no weak or strong mind trying to penetrate my thoughts. There was only silence. And then I saw him. A young boy... almost a child, like me... I trembled, hugging my knees and looking at the silent boy with fearful eyes. It had been a while since I had seen a ghost. I was almost waiting for a woman to come and take the child with her... But this was not Rome, and the boy was not as young as that poor child. I was not a young fledgling anymore, and Santino was not trying to break my will. I was trapped. And I knew that I was in danger. But I also knew that Santino loved me, and that soon he would come and take me out of this hell.

The ghost came closer to me, and then I saw more ghosts, old and young, men and women who had once walked through the corridor in front of my cell. They were lingering here because they had noticed that I could see them. I closed my eyes, wishing that they would all leave. I had no wish to speak with the dead. That only led to despair, and it was an easy way out for those tired of this eternal life. I wanted to live.

I think I fell asleep, but I couldn't be sure if the image of a dark-haired woman with green eyes was also a ghost or just a figment of my imagination. Or maybe I had seen her in that woman's mind... I had heard her words... or read her handwriting... All I knew was that she had been the one to condemn Benji and Sybelle... I tried to make some sense of the nightmarish images, but I was not able to do anything but let the images play in my mind over and over again. Sybelle and Benji were dead, and it had been that green-eyed woman's fault.

 

***

_Santino_

The wind was lashing at me viciously as I strained to keep up with Lestat and Pandora, and I had to close my eyes against the stinging air finally, relying merely on my senses to keep me in the right direction. I was pushing myself beyond my normal limits, I was well aware of that, but it was either risking absolute exhaustion later or getting lost now. And I could not let that happen, could not stay behind now, no matter what the cost would be later.

I was not quite certain where Lestat was heading for, but I assumed that it was London. Marius had said that it would be the most likely place for the Talamascans to keep Armand, so it was only natural for us to go there, wasn't it?

Something inside me struggled against this behaviour, called it foolish and blind towards traps. But it was impossible now to give in to cold reason, to let logic dictate what we should do. No matter how soothing it would have been to fall back into old, familiar thinking patterns; this time there lay no sense in playing for keeps, not if I wanted Armand back.

The thought that those mortals had dared attack him was enraging me still; they would pay for it once my lover was safe again. And if they had done him any harm, then I was going to hunt down the ones responsible and see to it that they would be incapable of doing so again. I did not dare to think of the possibility that they could also kill him. That simply could not be... not now, not when we had just begun to get to know each other, when we were finally making up for centuries lost.

"We are almost there!" I heard Pandora shout over the wind, and I wondered why she was not using mind speech. Had Marius followed us in the end? I had not sensed the Roman when I had been scanning for Armand, but I had to admit that he was probably able to shield from me with not overly much effort. Turning my head a little, I opened my eyes for a moment and indeed saw him at her side, a determined expression on his face.

Welcome to reality, Marius, I wanted to tell him, but hesitated to do so. Normally a remark like that would have come over my lips easily, but right now I was unwilling to risk provoking another disagreement with him. Not now, when we would waste the time we should be using to find and rescue Armand. There would be enough opportunities for teasing later. At the moment I was vaguely glad that the Roman was with us; no matter how strong Lestat and Pandora were, all support would be helpful.

Besides, it would be good for Armand to know that his maker cared about him, that Marius was worried and would come to help him when necessary. Marius had abandoned him to his fate once, that had already done enough harm to Armand's self-confidence. I did not want to imagine what it would do to him if his maker ignored him once more.

"Slow down, we will land here." Marius had no problem to make himself heard, and I was too absorbed in concentrating on moving that I obeyed without even thinking about it. Pandora did as well, and hovered at my side as we descended. She looked windblown, her hair a tangled mess of brown strands.

The only one missing when we touched down was Lestat. Not a big surprise, I thought tiredly, glad that I had firm ground beneath my feet once more. Flying was still relatively new to me.

Marius wore an expression of annoyance as he looked up to the sky, apparently searching for the Brat. Hopefully Lestat was not going to attempt anything on his own, that would cause more problems than it would do good. But the young one had never listened to reason, and I doubted that he ever would stop going off on rampant adventures. Usually I thought of it as an interesting character trait of his, but right now I felt like cursing him for delaying us further. It simply would not be wise to spread our forces too far and to let the Talamascans know that we were coming to reclaim our lost one.

Judging the pure concentration that was written all over her face, Pandora was searching for Lestat as well. She did not seem nearly as angry about his departure than Marius, though, and I wondered if she would not rather follow Lestat than stay here with us and wait. Pandora had never been the most patient woman, I knew that very well. But for now she seemed to have decided to stay with us and not run with Lestat.

Leaving the worry about Lestat to Marius, I spent the next few minutes trying to fight the exhaustion that I was feeling from the long and fast flight. I couldn't remember ever pushing myself so far before, at least not as a vampire, but then again, I had never before had to deal with a situation like this. And until Armand was back in my arms, I could not slow down. Not while he was in danger.

The thought that maybe we really should exchange him for that foolish fledgling crossed my mind. We could always kill her later, and we would not have to worry about Armand any longer. In my eyes Merrick had no right to exist as a vampire. First and foremost the rule that no new fledglings were to be made - not that this had stopped Lestat, or even Marius - but also because she had stolen the blood. The gift had not been granted voluntarily, and that made her despicable for me. She had taken advantage of Louis' naiveté, and now my lover was paying the price. And she was not even showing any traces of remorse for it.

Lestat finally came back, looking like an avenging archangel as he approached and fixed Marius with an angry glare. Apparently the Roman had ordered him to come back, though I wondered what he had said to convince Lestat to obey him.

"So you decided to join us," he said sharply, still glowering at Marius. "Are you going to help or are you planning to stop us from doing away with those miserable Talamascans?" Crossing his arms, he stood in front of the older vampire defiantly, daring him to say anything different.

I cast a look at Pandora and saw the wariness on her face; she was probably wondering whether she would have to step in and keep them from fighting. I could not help wondering whose side she would take, though. If Marius said something wrong now, she would most likely go with Lestat, but right now she and the Roman were in a good phase of their relationship, so as long as he was reasonable she might stick with him.

"Surely you don't mean to kill all the Talamascans?" Marius asked Lestat in a stern tone that made me shake my head. So much for being reasonable. That approach would not work with someone like Lestat; I had led a coven long enough to know that. But Marius seemed to think that all he had to do was show his disapproval so the young one would stop.

"If he does not do it, then I will," Pandora interjected angrily before Lestat could say anything. Apparently she too had figured that Marius' authoritative tone would not get us anywhere, and had decided to take matters in her own hand. "Those children were of our kind, and Armand is dear to me. I will not let them get away!"

"Pandora, be reasonable," Marius said sharply. "There is nothing to win through killing the mortals."

"So if they killed me you would just let them get away?" she snapped, so furious that I didn't dare move lest I attracted her attention. "If you won't bring back your lost fledgling, and avenge the dead, then I will. And don't you dare stop me."

I was taken aback by the ice cold fury with which she delivered the last line; I had not seen her this angry ever before. Marius' words had struck a vulnerable spot, it seemed, otherwise she would not have lashed at him like this.

Lestat had been watching too, apparently as unwilling to intrude as I was. But I could see that he was growing restless, and that he was itching to spring into action again instead of waiting here for Marius to finally see reason.

Pandora had turned away from the Roman, anger plain on her face still as she approached Lestat and me, determination in her stride. If she looked like that when she attacked the Talamascans, those mortals would probably drop dead with fright. This was not the clever and vivacious woman who was my friend, no, this was a goddess of rage and revenge who would deliver her punishment on the sinners. And to see her was beautiful and terrifying at the same time.

"We will have to wait until tomorrow," she told us, and gave Lestat a look as if she were daring him to protest. "There is not enough time left tonight in case we are delayed by anything." She was right with that; the morning was nearing already. And even though I yearned to find Armand, I knew that there was reason in her words.

 

***

_Lestat_

My eyes were open even when the last rays of the sun were dying in the horizon. For once I wished I could stay awake during the day; I didn't want to think what those bastards could have done to Armand while we were all asleep. But I only needed the night to find him and do away with those miserable Talamascans anyway. I had approached the manor house the previous night, being careful not to let them know that I was close. The times of coming to them without shielding my presence, daring them to try to scare me away, had passed. I had not been able to determine if they had Armand, though. A brief scan of the weaker members' superficial thoughts had rendered no result. But it was not really surprising, the younger members of the order wouldn't be told about something like this. The rigid hierarchy that governed this ancient order would determine that only the elders would be aware of a vampire imprisoned in their vaults.

It was time to rise and get Armand out, and to turn the whole place into ashes. None of them would survive, and I was fairly sure that Pandora would agree with me on this. Those mortals had not only killed those children and dared take Armand. They were dangerous, and if they wanted war I would give that to them. I didn't know Santino enough to be completely sure of his reaction, but I didn't think that he would object my plans. He had looked really angry and worried enough when it had become clear that the Talamasca had abducted Armand in order to exchange him from Merrick. I wasn't all that happy that the imp had gone off with the Italian coven master, but I was starting to think that maybe I should not intrude. Santino really seemed to care for the urchin.

I hoped that Marius wouldn't dare try to stop us. I didn't want to fight him, but I would do it if I had to. This was war, and the Talamascans were doomed. Swiftly, I made my way out of the earth and looked around to find Marius and Pandora already waiting for me. I wondered if they had already made up after the harsh argument they'd had on the previous night. They did seem calmer than when we had come to this abandoned courtyard to bury ourselves for the day. Pandora had made me wonder how she and Marius had managed to survive two centuries together. And I had learned something the previous night, that no matter what happened I would never do anything that might bring her wrath upon me.

"I was expecting you to rise before us," Marius said calmly, glancing at Pandora briefly before turning back to me. I was a bit piqued by his comment, but not even Akasha's blood could change the fact that he was two millenia older.

"I don't think some more minutes will make any difference," I said, somewhat harshly. "Have you already devised a plan?" I wondered if Santino would take much longer to wake.

"We have been awake mere minutes, young one," Pandora intervened, scrutinizing me and making me wonder what she was looking for. "Santino will wake soon and then we will be able to go," she said eventually. I nodded, briefly wondering if she had read my mind, but I discarded the thought. Two millenia or not, I would have sensed her.

Santino came up some moments later. He was looking slightly tired and paler than last night. I could detect the faintest sign of hunger in him, but not enough for him to look so pale. It was probably the strain of the last nights. "I am ready," he said simply, and then a silent communication seemed to pass between him and Pandora.

"We should be going then," I said, and made to take to the air, but was halted when Marius raised a hand asking for patience. "What?" I said, almost harshly.

"There is no need to rush there without taking the necessary precautions," he said. "First of all we need to hunt. The oldest members of the Talamasca are powerful telepaths..."

"They are mortals. None of them is match for any of us," I said.

"But they could shield Armand from us if they act in concert," Pandora stated. "Marius is right, it will be better if we hunt on the way to the manor house." I nodded reluctantly. It wouldn't do any harm if they all hunted on the way to the old building. I was shocked when the mental equivalent of a shake reached me, and I could see the warning in Pandora's eyes. ::You are going to hunt too, young one. We all need to be at our best if we want to get Armand out soon.::

I glared back at her defiantly, but said nothing. There was no need to start an argument that would delay us further. But as I rose to the air her words still resounded in my mind. If we wanted to get Armand out soon... For those mortals to have been able to abduct him, and then keep him there for more than one night the imp had to be hurt... We vampires are helpless during the day if mortals know enough about us. It was imperative that we took the imp out as soon as possible, and for that we needed to rip the veil those mortals would try to build around my dark brother. Maybe the time to drink mortal blood again had come.

We agreed to separate in two groups for the hunting, and for some reason Marius decided to come with me. I didn't know Pandora and Santino well anyway, so it did make sense. But I couldn't shake off the feeling that Marius had come with me just to make sure I didn't do anything reckless. I paid no more mind to it. We had already landed in the vicinity of a small town, and soon we had spotted a tavern where we could maybe find two evildoers who would be tonight's kill. But I didn't feel as playing the judge tonight. I would just hunt and take the blood from one of those mortals in order to be at my strongest and get my dark brother out of the manor house.

I moved away from Marius, leaving him to the privacy of his kill. I had never before hunted with him, and this was not the time to share this intimacy. I walked into a dark alley, dragging a struggling victim with me. A man. I didn't try to read his mind, the blood would provide me with his story. I sank my fangs into his neck, feeling the blood hit the roof of my mouth and sending me into a spiral of lust after having starved myself for such a long time. The man in my arms was growing limp, and even as his life dimmed and I swallowed the death, my mind was drifting to the events that had rendered me immobile on that dusty floor. But I firmly banned away those thoughts. I had to focus on Armand now.

I felt the touch of Marius' mind, and I knew that he was ready, and that he had been close. I was not ready to welcome his silent support, as I was still trying to cope with the aftermath of having ended my fast. But I didn't resent his presence either. I walked towards him, and without saying a word we rose to the air, heading for the Talamasca headquarters.

We soon arrived to the meeting place we had agreed on with Pandora and Santino. They were already there waiting for us. Our minds were tightly shielded, but once we started searching for Armand the oldest members of the Talamasca would detect us. And maybe some of the new. We had to do this fast and not give them the slightest opportunity to hurt Armand further... because I was sure that the imp had to be hurt...

"We will go in two groups," Marius said, glancing at each of us as he spoke. "Our main goal is to take Armand out." I was going to protest but Pandora spoke first.

"We will find Armand and take him out, and then we will do away with the ones who planned this all," she said, looking at Marius defiantly. "I will go with Santino," she said, and without another word she took to the air. Santino followed her and that left me to face Marius.

"Let us go," I said, not wanting to argue about this anymore. "We cannot allow them to hold Armand prisoner for longer. We have to take him out." He nodded slowly, and I could see a trace of worry in his eyes. "We will take him out, Marius," I said, and then I turned around and took to the air, and he followed me.

 

***

_Pandora_

The blood of my victim was still singing in my veins, though the powerful rush would wear off quickly. I did not feed every night anymore, simply because it had proved to be unnecessary as the decades had passed. But this night it would have been foolish not to hunt; the blood was the fuel for our powers, the drug that could push us beyond our limits. Besides, it also was a pleasant feeling to be warm and wide awake after sensing the victim's pleasure in the kill just as death approached. The thrill that came hand in hand with passion every time.

Pairing off with Santino had been the most sensible choice, and I hoped that Marius would understand and not let his dignity rule him and tell him that he should not be letting me run off with the Italian vampire. It just would not have made sense if I had stayed with Marius; neither of us could hear the other, and that would have been a serious difficulty if we needed to move quietly somewhere. Telepathic communication could be so helpful sometimes... and to let Marius and Santino work together was simply out of the question. Making those two team up would have been an open invitation of disaster. They could cooperate, no doubt about that, but not for more than an hour or two. I still shuddered to remember the night when Santino and I had rescued Marius from the pit where the Mother had trapped him. If I had been more awake that night, I would have gone crazy with their hardly veiled insults and accusations. They had lately managed to be civil around each other, but still they were far from being friends.

As we drew nearer to the Talamascan motherhouse I cautiously reached out for Lestat's mind, careful to project my thoughts very directly so the mortals would not pick up on them. Normally they should be unable to do so, but I was certain that at least some of them had to be in a state of heightened alarm. It would have been idiotic of them if they were not considering the possibility of attacks during the night.

::Once we scan for Armand, they will sense us,:: I reminded him once again, even though I knew that he would hardly have forgotten. ::We will have to be as quick as possible, and we must not let those mortals stop us. If one of them gets in your way, don't waste time.::

::Anyone who dares cross my path will be dead.:: His voice was full of controlled anger, assuring me that he would not let anything delay him. Those Talamascans would have to face the force of nature that Lestat could be, and they would not stand a chance. I was just glad that we were on the same side.

::We should start to search for Armand,:: Santino told me with a hint of urgency. ::They will be able to sense us in a few moments anyway, and right now we can still startle them.::

Confirmations came from Lestat and Marius, and either the young one or Santino were delaying my maker's thoughts to me. They both sounded determined enough, and when they went silent again, I closed my eyes and concentrated on calling for Armand.

Envisioning his face, his voice, I tried to discover his presence in the building in front of me. Normally it should not be hard for me to do it, but when I reached out with my mind, I met a wall of silence that simply did not budge, no matter how hard I tried. Trying to find the sources that generated this shield, the minds of those who dared stand against us, I scanned the building for mortals instead of Armand.

So many of them there! I had never been at a motherhouse of the Talamasca, but the sheer number of people that had gathered here was staggering. Over a hundred... was that the normal number of inhabitants of the house? I had never thought that there were so many members to the order...

I felt Lestat do the same as I did, and the mental shield of the mortals was gradually weakening. But some of them were exceptionally strong and well trained too, so it still held up, even though it was shrinking.

Santino and I had reached the house by now, and I let go of the mind battle for a moment to shatter the high, thick oak door that appeared to be one of the main entrances. The bits and pieces flew around me as we rushed inside, ignoring the dust and the noises as the wooden shrapnel hit the walls around us.

It felt good to let go for once, to truly unleash the power that came with the vampiric nature. I hadn't realized how much we all normally held back, both purposefully and without being aware of it. But when a mortal suddenly approached me and I only had to strike him lightly to send him tumbling back into the doorway where he had come from, I felt free from all bounds, as if nothing could stop me. And maybe that was true.

We were following a hallway that led deeper inside the building, with doors opening right and left at the commotion we were causing. I did not care about what happened to the mortals whom I shoved out of the way, into the walls and the decorations that graced the walls, those priceless items that they all collected.

A young woman reached for me, grabbed hold of my upper arms in an attempt to stop me. She didn't look afraid, even though she surely had to know just what I was and how futile her attempts were. But the pretty face was a mask of determination as she tried to hold me back. Such stupidity to try and best a vampire; even a fledgling could easily do away with her. It infuriated me that she believed me to be so weak, that she was underestimating me so thoroughly, so I broke free of her hold easily, caught her close to me and sank my fangs into her neck, showing her just how big her mistake had been. Within seconds her heart had stopped, and I let go of her without a second glance.

As we passed a stairwell, I could hear screams coming from the upper floor, terrified cries accompanied by what sounded like breaking walls and furniture. Apparently Lestat had arrived as well; hopefully Marius was with him too. Even though I did not think it very likely, there was the chance that my beloved Roman would choose not to involve himself in this.

I was just moving in on a group of Talamascans who were trying to block my path, fear plain on their faces, when I noticed that Santino had disappeared from my side. Frantically I spun around to look for him, straining not to overreact on this. It was so difficult to regain some measure of control over myself again, to calm down and think rationally instead of merely reacting to what happened around me.

After some moments I spotted him a few meters behind me, partially hidden from view by one of those ridiculous suits of armor that I had thought were only used in movie decorations. He looked unsettled, confusion and fury mingling in his expression as he shook his head slightly and then came towards me, not sparing a glance at the motionless bodies on the floor.

::Be careful around their telepaths,:: he told me when he noticed my inquiring look. ::One of them almost tricked me...:: He sounded angry as he said this, and I did not ask what he had done to the mortal who had attempted to attack him. No matter how good a mortal telepath was, there never was a chance to win against one of us.

::Have you discovered Armand yet?:: I asked, advancing on the group that was still blocking our path and that stupidly refused to get out of the way. I couldn't care less; right now I was way past caring about anything that happened to the people who had dared to kill and kidnap those close to me.

::Nothing. But there is still this strange shield.::

We were moving in concert now, clearing our path without caring at all what happened to the mortals around us. At another time I might have felt appalled at what we were doing, the deaths and the pain we were causing, but right now only fury was singing in my veins. Another loud crash could be heard from the upper floor, and suddenly dust and pieces of plaster came raining down on us from the ceiling.

::That mental wall...:: Santino was speaking inside my head. ::Marius thinks that they are hiding Armand...::

It sounded reasonable, and I immediately reached out to try and knock it down once more, but without success. Nevertheless I kept trying, battering against the defense. I felt other minds do the same, sensed the growing weakness of the mortals that were keeping up the shield. Too much concentration for them, and not enough strength. They would not be able to hold it up for much longer.

 

***

_Armand_

I had woken to find myself into this cell. My whole body screamed for blood, but I could not even stand, lest try to break the bars of my cell. My mind felt like full of cotton, and everything around me looked hazy. I shivered, wondering what I had done to be imprisoned in this cell, wondering if Santino would finally come and take me out.

Santino... Where are you my love? Why are you not here yet? I am afraid... I am losing my mind in this place... and I cannot fight her anymore... I don't know why I am here and why she... they have taken me... They are mortals... they should not have this power over me... But I cannot think clearly enough... And every time I open my eyes it is worse... Are they drugging me...? I thirst so much...

And why is Allesandra here and you don't come? I will obey... If you only come and take me out... I swear I will obey, Santino... I cannot stand this cell anymore... the ghosts... the thirst... Am I in Hell now? Is this Hell for me? Santino... Please take me out... Don't leave me here... I love you...

"Stay quiet child," Allesandra said. "Santino will not come if you keep calling him." The woman looking at me through the bars of my cell suddenly shrank and she was no more Allesandra but some old specter with white hair and hands with fingers like claws. She was so much like those ghosts that permanently surrounded me. I moaned softly, backing away in my cell and hugging my knees, trying to make myself as small as possible.

The woman had moved closer, and now she was staring at me, and I could feel her eyes piercing my soul and trying to read my most inner thoughts, the ones I had managed to keep from her until now. I prepared myself for the pain, but it did not come and I was looking again at Allesandra, and she was soothing me and trying to make me sleep. I shivered.

"I could take you out of there, child," she said softly. "But I need you to help me. I need to know how to defeat them... how to defeat Santino..."

"No!" I shook my head, trying to back away, but my back found the wall and she seemed to be coming close. But I knew she was not... the bars of my cell separated us. I tried to rebuild my shields, but I was too weak and she shattered my defenses easily.

"Then you will stay in this cell for eternity," she said with bitter contempt. "You will stay here with no more company than that of the ghosts. They scare you so much..."

She was right. I was too shaken by the fading figures floating around me. I was afraid of them... Some of the ghosts would come too close and try to touch me. And others would speak to me and say that I would soon join them, that I would only come out this cell if I agreed to go with them. But I could not die, could I? I was immortal...

There was a loud crash somewhere and again the tall figure of Allesandra shimmered and shrank into the white-haired witch. I could feel a cold anger radiating from her in waves, and it was not directed to me. There was someone else out there... The witch moved away, and I could feel the pull of her will trying to cloud my mind, to render me asleep. But somehow she was weakening and suddenly a powerful mind voice filled my mind.

::Armand?:: I instantly shrank back, though I didn't attempt to fend the voice off. I knew who it was... I should know... ::It's Lestat, Armand! Hold on!:: The voice withdrew, or maybe it was fading. I couldn't really say, but I could feel it from time to time, brushing my mind and coming close.

The witch had moved further away, but I didn't move from my corner in the back of the cell. The ghosts were all around, and there was a particularly nasty woman who kept asking me if I had been the one who had murdered Claudia. I didn't answer. This was the first time that ghosts talked to me. I had seen them before in this same cell... no... in Rome... But they had never spoken to me... I shivered, burying my face in my arms and wishing that they would all leave me alone. I was cold and hungry, and all I wanted was to see Santino again... to see my master... no... my lover...

I am losing my mind, Santino... I can't...

Slowly I looked up and sank back against the wall, looking at the witch and the ghosts as if through a mirror. This was not happening to me... This was happening to someone else... or maybe it was just a dream... A nightmare... Or maybe I had died and this was Hell... or worse Santino had never taken me out of the cell... I shook my head, breathing heavily and trying to fend away these thoughts. It was the witch, and she was in my head, and I was losing...

::Ragazzo? Amadeo, it's me, Santino!::

Santino?

This time I didn't shrink from the mental touch but tried to hold onto it, to answer somehow and plead with him to come here and take me out. There was the other mental touch brushing my mind from time to time, and there was a third one in the background. But it was Santino's mind that I tried to find when the connection faltered. I couldn't form any coherent words. I could only send my feelings and emotions. I was confused and scared, and I was starting to feel pain once more.

::STOP IT!!:: The witch's mind voice shattered any connection with the outside world. I moaned in pain, clutching at my head with both hands and struggling to fend her off. But it was not possible anymore, and I was starting to lose conscience. I shook my head violently, as if by this mean I could get her out of my head, but I was powerless. I could feel Santino's mind touch again, and it seemed to me that he was close. But everything was dimming around me, and though I could hear a great turmoil rather close, finally I lost consciousness.

 

***

_Santino_

Our surroundings were changing as Pandora and I cleared our way deeper into the house, from ornate wall coverings and brightly lit hallways to the cavernous basement rooms that we were moving in now. There no longer were any mortals attempting to stop us; those had stayed upstairs, not daring to follow us down into the darkness of the cellars.

I could no longer sense Armand's presence, but the few precious moments that I had felt him had been enough to know where he was. And to tell me that he was alive still, that they had not killed him. So much pain and fear coming from him, a jumble of feelings that I had sensed in him before. But back then it had been me who had caused it, and nobody had come after me for this sin that I had committed.

That would never happen again. I would not allow it. Nobody had the right to do this, not if there was any way at all to stop them.

Lestat's mind brushed my own as we were just breaking through a wall instead of wasting time looking for the doorways and passages in this veritable labyrinth of storage rooms. He told me that he too had sensed Armand, that he and Marius were on the way as well. Anger was plain in his thoughts, but also satisfaction that came from the kill, from the revenge that he was executing.

Rubble fell around me as I followed Pandora, moving too fast for mortal eyes to see until the next wall would stop us for a few seconds. I could sense a few presences near, strong and controlled, not like those confused young fledgling members upstairs. No, these beings were experienced and shielded their minds as good as they could. Which was not much use against a vampire, but right now I did not care about their stupidity. Whatever they did was disgusting to me since it was connected to the abduction of Armand, connected to the hurt and confusion that he was suffering.

The presences grew more solid, more defined the further we got. And then there was one last wall, and when the dust had settled I could see several figures inside the room, radiating considerable mental energy for mortals. But I paid no attention to that, instead found myself completely focused on the small form that was cowering in a shadowy corner of the room, behind thick old metal bars that defined the cell that kept him.

Too fast for even me to realize it I was through that barrier, not caring about anything that happened around me right now. Pandora would take care of those things, I trusted her enough for that. There simply was nothing anywhere near as important as reaching out for my lover to gather the shockingly thin frame in my arms and assure him that he was safe, that nothing else would happen.

Armand tried to shy away for a moment, less out of a conscious effort than out of the instinct of a wounded creature. I eased my hold on him a little but did not let go, and after endless seconds he finally seemed to recognize me. His arms came around me at a sudden and he was clinging to me tightly, his face buried against my shoulder.

"Ragazzo..." I whispered as I held him close and stroked his hair and down his spine in an attempt to still his trembling. "You are safe, nobody will hurt you... I'm here, I won't let go of you... We'll take you out of here and bring you home..."

A soft murmur came from him in response. "Santino... I will obey... I promise I will be good..."

What was the meaning of this? I had heard him speak like this before, but that had been in the past, endless centuries ago, so why was it back now? The answer hovered in my mind, closer than I would have wanted it to be. He had been locked up in a cell, had been starved... I brushed his thoughts carefully and encountered confused memories of Allesandra, of Rome, but also his current surroundings and the Talamascans. The thirst had to be the reason that this all had come back to him... starvation could cause hallucinations... And those foolish mortals had dared to do this to him.

I focused on the situation around us again and saw that Pandora had been working her way through the Talamascans steadily. Several bodies lay on the ground, though they did not look drained at all; I could understand that the thought of feeding on those beings would disgust her. Pandora had the last mortal in a tight grip, hands holding her upper arms so tightly that bruises would be left. Not that it mattered.

"What do you want to do with her?" she asked me as she approached the cell, bringing the woman with her. The Talamascan was old, I could see that now that I was paying more attention to her. White hair, a fragile figure that stood in firm contrast to her graceful and tall captor. As old as the others that were dead already and lay at Pandora's feet.

::Why did you leave her?:: I asked silently, focusing my thoughts so the woman would not catch them.

::She is the head of this,:: came the answer. ::The others were only her helpers.::

"There is no reason to let her live," I said, then slowly stood, cradling Armand in my arms. "He needs to feed, but not on her." The blood brought images, strong memories of the victim, and I did not want him to see her thoughts that had to be focused on what was happening now. "We have no use for her at all."

Pandora nodded slightly, then let go of her arms. The woman slumped to the ground, but did not attempt to scramble away as I had almost expected her to do. No, she just lay there, staring up at me with loathing in her eyes.

"You stole Merrick from us," she practically hissed. "We demand to have her returned to us!"

I glared down at her, only speaking when she finally averted her eyes. "Your motives don't matter. You took one of us, you killed our kind. You made the first move, so now suffer the consequences." Turning my back on her, I took a few steps away from her cowering form. "Foolish mortal, to even think that you can win against us."

She was trying to mentally call for help, and I built up shields immediately, feeling Pandora do the same. There were not many people left anyway whom she would be able to reach if we had let her; only a few living souls in the mansion remained, and considering that I was smelling a faint scent of fire, there might be even less in some hours. But that was none of my concerns.

Once again Armand was murmuring my name, stirring a little as his arms came around my neck. The trembling had lessened a little by now, but I could still feel the tension in his body. I wanted to bring him out of here as soon as possible, away from this place and the reminders of what he had gone through during the last three nights.

::Go feed him,:: Pandora's voice rang in my head. ::I can take care of this horrid old witch alone.::

I shot her a thankful look, then brought Armand's face up to my neck, hoping that instinct would be enough and that he would not need any coaxing to feed. He had to be starved judging his gaunt face and the hollow cheeks, and I felt my anger grow once more, but fought to keep calm so Armand would not catch those thoughts and think them directed at him. My lover simply was too good at misunderstanding things sometimes.

Armand made no move to drink, he just held tightly to me and once more whispered that he'd obey. It hurt to hear him say these words again, words he had spoken in the past when he had been pleading with me to release him from that cell.

"We're not in Rome, ragazzo," I told him quietly, hoping that he would understand the words or at least register the tone. "You are not locked up, but you must feed, do you hear me? Drink."

The last word was spoken aloud as well as directly in his mind, and I sighed with relief when it proved to be enough incentive for him. Sinking his fangs into my neck, he took a hesitant sip that could not have been more than a few drops, but it seemed to encourage him to take more. The hold Armand had on me tightened as he drank more, and I felt my legs weaken at the familiar rush that came with sharing the blood.

Impossible to say how much time had passed, but I became aware of my surroundings again when the stinging smell of something burning assaulted my nose. I looked around for the source of it, and when I discovered the blackened spot on the stone floor in front of Pandora, I turned to prevent Armand from seeing it. If he remembered what had happened in Rome, then the last thing I wanted to do was show him the ashes of a burned corpse.

"There is nothing left to do down here," Pandora said as she came to my side, looking at Armand inquiringly. "He has fed?"

"Yes, but perhaps you could give him some more later? I don't think it was quite enough, but I cannot give him more." I felt lightheaded enough as it was, and right now I could not afford to be too weak. Not while we still were in the Talamascan Motherhouse. It would just have been foolish to do so.

"I will," she answered, giving me a brief smile. "Lestat and Marius will wait to meet us outside. And we should go soon. It seems like one of them set the building afire."

I raised an eyebrow at this. Either Marius had gone out of his way for once, or Lestat had just behaved normally. The second possibility seemed much more likely. Adjusting my hold on Armand, I followed Pandora as she left the room, following the path we had cleared when we had come down here.

 

***

_Lestat_

I was waiting outside with Marius for the others to come out of the house. Maybe I should have waited for them to be out to start burning the place, but I had lost control when one of the Talamascans had tried to stop my path and confuse me a few seconds after I had contacted Santino and told him that we were already on the way. The old man had never stood a chance, but I had glimpsed some of the thoughts he had tried to project as he had tried to stop me. I had seen Memnoch and something like the whirlwind in which we had traveled between Heaven and Hell, but it had been more what this mortal thought it was than the real thing. I had completely unleashed my rage then, crushing the bones of the man's fragile neck with my hands before setting the broken body afire.

And then I had started to set everything around me on fire. The carpets, the heavy curtains, the books, the dead bodies I found as I raced madly through the house. I had known that Pandora and Santino had already reached Armand, and that it was a matter of minutes for them to get the imp out of the house. So I had set the old motherhouse on fire, the only thought in my mind being that I should stop them now, or they would feel encouraged to kill one of us again, or hurt my loved ones.

They had already done that with Armand. Even though the imp and I could hardly stand to be in the same room for long, I loved Armand dearly, and I was certain that he felt the same. We were brothers after all, as Armand had said just before I had gone with Memnoch, and he was right. We were brothers, linked by our past and our present, and I would not allow any miserable mortal to do this to him and stay alive.

It had shocked me to feel Armand shrink back the first time I had touched his mind. He had been more receptive the next times I had brushed his mind carefully, and I had felt a mixture of fear and hope in his heart that had broken mine. Nobody who had done this to Armand had any right to live. And no mortal who had dared kill our own should be allowed to do it again. And so I had killed without regard of guilt or age. They had declared war, and that was what I had given to them.

I had only stopped when Marius had placed himself before me, grabbing my arms with his tremendous strength in order to force me to stop. He had done his share of killing too, though he had only attacked those mortals who had tried to stop him from advancing further into the house. And those, he had only shoved away, killing them only when there had been no other way to advance fast. I had relayed to him the thoughts and feelings I had sensed in Armand's mind, and that had fueled his anger and his disappointment with the old order of the Talamasca.

And so when he had stopped me I had relented, and come with him out of the house after checking that Pandora and Santino had Armand and would be able to take him out without any problem. The old motherhouse was burning, making a nice contrast to the dark sky and gloomy atmosphere of the night. I could feel the firemen's sirens already coming some miles away. They would arrive soon; we had to leave here. The few Talamascans who had survived had fled the house, some of them shocked by what they had seen tonight. The so called elders were all dead, and all that was left to be done was make sure that neither of them would dare attack us in the future. I would take care of that in a few nights.

"They are already coming," Marius said. I followed his gaze and saw Pandora coming towards us, followed close by Santino who was carrying Armand in his arms. The imp seemed to be unconscious, and I frowned in concern as Marius and I closed the distance between us.

"How is he?" Marius asked, voice thick with concern as he gently touched Armand's cheek. The imp stirred in Santino's arms and sighed softly, opening his eyes and looking around in confusion.

"Marius..." he whispered after a few seconds. "You came for me..." His expression was an eerie mixture of relief and surprise, and when his gaze fell on me his eyes widened slightly, making his face appear more gaunt. "Lestat..." He seemed to be having problems with recognizing us. Finally his eyes closed again and he tightened his hold on Santino. I couldn't help myself but feel a rush of jealousy to see the imp clinging to him, but I wanted Armand to be happy, didn't I? I shook my head, wondering if Santino could take to the air with Armand in his arms. He looked completely exhausted and a bit gaunt. He had obviously fed the imp.

"There is nothing left for us to do here," Pandora said. "Can we leave, or are you planning to watch the fire?" I could feel the sarcasm in her last words, but she was already calming. We all were, though the rush of the recent kill was still plain on everyone's face, save for Armand, of course. He looked thin and frail; hopefully he would be better after feeding more and having some rest.

"Pandora is right," Marius said, turning to look at me before his gaze fell on Santino. "Give him to me," he said. "You are tired." I could see Santino tense at once, and for a moment I believed that the old feud between them was about to erupt into an argument. Armand appeared to tense, his grip on Santino tightening, his dark eyes looking around in confusion. I was about to just take Armand in my arms and leave when Pandora surprised me again.

"I will take Armand," she said, standing between them and looking at Marius. "He is scared and confused, and it will be better if someone who can read his mind and soothe him carries him." Marius looked at her evenly for some moments, before she then turned to Santino, and a silent communication seemed to pass between them. After some moments Santino seemed to accept that she would take Armand, but I highly doubted that the imp would let go of his lover. Pandora smiled at him, brushing the hair out of his forehead and looking at him until his eyes finally closed. Clever. Pandora took Armand in her arms and after Marius had placed his jacket around the imp's body she took to the air. Santino followed closely. Marius was looking at me.

"Come on, Lestat," he said. "There is nothing else to be done here." I nodded slowly, wondering if he knew that I was planning to hunt down the remaining members of the order. He waited for me to take to the air, and only then followed me. We traveled south, crossing the channel and only coming down once we were back on the continent. We had landed in some place in southern France, and I knew the reason was to feed Armand again, and to allow Santino to feed. We were in a park, and Pandora sat on a bench, making a wound on her wrist and placing it against Armand's mouth. He drank slowly, stopping every few seconds and calling for his lover. Santino was standing close, holding the imp's hand in his. I wondered when he would be able to leave and search for a prey.

Armand stopped drinking and once again he turned to Santino. But then his eyes fell on me, and I found myself reading his mind even without meaning to do it. And what I saw in his mind froze me in place. I looked at the others, and I realized that save for Marius they all were seeing the same. Armand seemed to be projecting his thoughts, though he didn't seem to be completely aware of it. And I saw her. Dressed in red silk, a three strand necklace of pearls around her neck. Her long brown hair held back by one of those leather barrettes she so loved. Merrick! She was speaking on the phone and giving precise instructions for another person to locate Benji and Sybelle. She was pleading with the other woman to allow her to stay with us, and promising that she would keep me from threatening them.

I felt the anger igniting in my chest again. This was the worst betrayal, to give the lives of your own in exchange of some time. Whom was Merrick going to give out next? Had Armand been part of the deal? I didn't wait to see. I had seen enough. In a rage I took to the air and headed towards Santino's house. I would have Merrick pay, even if this meant losing Louis again. What I had to do would be for him too. I didn't know if any of the others were following me, and I didn't care. I myself could do away with that witch. And then my fledglings would pass their judgement on me.

 

***

_Pandora_

The only thing that kept me from rushing after Lestat was that Armand was still in my arms and leaning against me. How could that witch dare to do this to us! I felt rage grow inside me, fury that sought for a possibility to get loose to vent off at least a little of my anger. That witch had betrayed us, had even killed in order to achieve her goals, had turned against her own kind! She would have to pay for it all, even though nothing she could give could undo what she had done. Killing two of us, delivering another to imprisonment and danger... she had signed her death warrant with that. If Lestat did not do it, then I would.

But I did not doubt that the Brat would take the appropriate measures. He had been so angry when he had left, and I did not believe that anything could have stopped him right then. The only question was what Louis would be doing, but even that naive little fool would have to realize how this traitor had played him. That witch seemed to have known right from the beginning what she wanted, perhaps even her making had been part of her plan. I did not care what she had wanted to achieve, only that she had committed unspeakable crimes and therefore had to pay.

My hands were clenched in fists of rage as I cautiously pushed Armand away. I did not quite trust myself to not hurt him right now, not when all that I really wanted was to set something afire. Preferably that little treacherous witch... I almost regretted that Lestat probably would only leave some ashes when he was done with her. As I got to my feet and stood, trying to decide what to do now, Santino moved to Armand's side, taking the young one into his arms to soothe him from the startlement I had apparently caused when I had let go of him. Sighing softly at the pang of guilt I felt, I leaned down to stroke a hand across Armand's pale, gaunt cheek to calm him further.

He looked better by now; feeding definitely had helped, but rest was in order. Not only for him, but for all of us. Santino looked ready to fall asleep any moment, and Marius seemed to be tired too. And I felt the tug of exhaustion even across the fury that raged inside me.

Nothing really kept me now from following Lestat; it would be so good to take to the air and rush after him. If I was fast enough, maybe I would be able to see the last moments of that betrayer of her own kind, and I knew that seeing her die would be something of a satisfaction. The memory of my brother Lucius crossed my mind, that he too had betrayed his family, my family, and that he had found punishment in death. And that the only tears I had shed because of him had been tears of fury over the stupidity of evil people. I was not going to cry over this witch, though. She deserved no compassion, not for her foolishness and not for anything else.

"I want to go after Lestat," I said, mostly to Marius since the other two did not really seem to register my words. "Can I trust you to take care of this?"

Marius did quite obviously not like the way I had phrased the question. "I won't harm Armand in any way. But Pandora, let me follow Lestat instead. He needs to hear reason from someone."

"And you think I am the wrong person for that?" My anger was coming out, even though it was a little unfair that Marius should be on the receiving end right now. "I think that he is right in what he does, and if he can't torch that little witch then I will do it. Stay here, Marius. And take care of Armand for me."

"He is my fledgling," my beloved, infuriating Roman said, indignation in his voice.

"Then act like that for once."

I regretted the words as soon as they had crossed my lips, but there was no way to take them back. Marius was looking at me as if he were not quite sure what he had heard, but after a few moments a shadow crossed his face and he turned away from me.

"Marius..." I tried, not quite daring to approach him.

He shook his head, light blond hair dancing across the dark red of his shirt.

"This was uncalled for, Marius... I am sorry that I said this." Inwardly I cursed myself for losing control like this. Snapping replies at Marius was one thing, but telling him something like this was totally different. I had hurt him without intending to do so, without any need for it. He had come to help in rescuing Armand, had done what could be expected of him, and more. I had not had any right to say what I had said.

Slowly I stepped up to his side and cautiously rested my hand on his shoulder, inwardly sighing with relief when he turned his head to look at me. His expression was blank, but in his eyes I could see the hurt I had caused.

"I am sorry," I said once more, hoping that he would believe me.

Marius studied my face for a second, then nodded. "I know." He sighed softly. "But you can't have said this without a reason."

Bowing my head, I looked down at the ground. "I was angry... you have not always been the perfect maker, but that doesn't justify what I have said." Or at least not how I had said it, I added silently. Marius had to be aware that he had made great mistakes sometimes when it came to his fledglings, but he had also done a lot of things right. And I cared for him, too much to want to hurt him by holding it all against him when he had just tried to redeem himself a little in the eyes of Armand and myself.

"My Pandora." The sound of my name made me raise my head again, and with relief I saw the small smile on his face. "One night you will be driving me crazy, but it will not be this one." His arms came around me, and I leaned into his embrace, smiling as I felt cool lips touch the top of my head.

I would have liked to stay like this for longer, but my mind was too restless at the moment to stand still for more than a few seconds, so I was glad when Marius released me again. I would not have wanted to struggle against his grip right now.

Behind me I heard Santino quietly reassure Armand that all of us were safe and unhurt, and the young one was responding by now, and asking what had happened. His grip on reality seemed to improve with every passing minute, and I was glad for that. It had been terrible to witness his hallucinations back in the cell, to hear him plead like he had done.

Once more I felt rage surge up inside me at the thought that those damnable scholars had dared to hurt him. In some way it was the same that I had felt when the Mother had turned against Marius, but back then the shadow of my own misery had clouded my thoughts. But this time I saw clearly.

"You should feed," Marius said at a sudden, and when I turned around I saw Santino looking at him, a hint of puzzlement on his face. Marius' words had not been exactly kind, but neither had they been unfriendly, and that had to have been surprising for the dark-haired vampire.

"I cannot leave him alone now," he replied, and I knew that he was aiming for a more polite tone than he would normally have used. Amazing how a crisis could make him and Marius willing to cooperate... I really was looking forward to their normal guarded ways, it would mean that everything had returned to normal.

A pale hand rose to touch Santino's cheek. "You look gaunt and exhausted, beloved," Armand said in a low voice, but loud enough for Marius and me to hear. "You really should hunt."

"He is right," Marius backed him up. "Santino, you are of no use to anyone if you starve yourself."

I raised an eyebrow at this. Interesting approach, I thought, but it might just work to remind Santino that it wasn't just for his own sake. Besides, Marius probably never would admit that he was worried for him.

Santino looked at Armand for long moments, then a smile crossed his face. Maybe some sort of mental communication was being held between them; they both did not look like they were talking, but with two vampires who had practically perfected the art of not letting anything show on their faces it was hard to tell.

"Don't worry, ragazzo," I eventually heard Santino whisper almost inaudibly. "I will do as you say, and I will be right back." He leaned down to kiss his lover's forehead before looking at me and Marius. "You stay here," he said, and then he was gone. I could probably have seen him leave if I had been concentrating, but it had not been high on my priority list right now.

Marius approached Armand and sat down next to his fledgling, keeping a careful distance between them. It made me shake my head in exasperation; that man really was never going to learn. But then again, what had I been hoping for? He hadn't changed during the last two millennia, I could hardly expect him to develop new character traits in two nights.

"Lestat is gone?" Armand asked softly, wide brown eyes studying me as I nodded. "You want to go too..."

"Perceptive, little one," I replied, once more feeling that urge that had been burning inside me ever since seeing the tale of that treacherous fledgling. "I will go, but only once Santino is back." I shot a look at Marius at this, daring him to say anything against it, but he only smiled for a moment.

"I see..." Closing his eyes for a moment, Armand shifted slightly closer to Marius. "Will you be back?"

I nodded. "I will be waiting for you when you come home," I assured him, and at the same time reminded myself to make sure that Lestat took his fledglings away from Armand and Santino's home. They probably wouldn't appreciate visitors right now, and I was also rather certain that at least David would be running the risk of facing a very hostile Santino. My old friend had never been fond of any Talamascan, and he surely was not going to change his mind now.

For some more minutes I stayed with them, and when I felt Santino returning from his hunt, I bent down to kiss Armand's cheek before taking to the air and heading eastwards. Lestat probably had handled things already, but I was not going to trust him completely until I had seen it with my own eyes.

 

***

_Armand_

Pandora had just taken to the air, and I knew that Santino was close because I had felt his mind touching mine. I let out a shaky breath, hugging myself and wishing I were already in my lover's arms. I was still confused, scared, and all I knew was that something terrible had happened and that I had been imprisoned in a cell. Not in Rome, even though the image of Allesandra still danced in my mind. But I had been in a cell and I had seen those ghosts, and Santino had come for me.

"Are you feeling cold, child?" Marius asked me, a veil of concern darkening his eyes. I still had his jacket on, and that along with the blood Santino and Pandora had given me was keeping me more or less warm. I looked at my maker for a moment, still trying to understand why they all seemed so concerned. I was aware that something dreadful had happened, but I couldn't remember the reason for me having been imprisoned in that cell. Bits of memory assaulted my mind, dreadful images... fear... The feeling of hopelessness had been so familiar... the absolute despair... But Marius had come, and this time he had not abandoned me.

I shook my head, struggling to clear my thoughts. "I'm not cold," I said softly. "I am... afraid... And I don't understand why..." I looked around nervously, trying to see if Santino was coming already. I saw him, and I closed my eyes for a moment, shivering again. "You all came back for me... Thank you..."

"How could we not come for you, child?" Marius said softly. He seemed about to say something else, but then he shook his head, a trace of sadness in his blue eyes. It made me sad to see him so concerned, almost to the point of crying. I was aware that I was being overly emotional, but I didn't know why.

Santino...

"I am here," my lover said, sitting at my side and gently pulling me close. He was warm, and he didn't look gaunt anymore. He had fed, as he had promised to do. I leaned into his embrace, sighing softly. "You have nothing to fear, Amadeo," he said quietly, stroking my hair. I felt safe, and for some reason the urge to cry was becoming stronger. I could not understand... "We will always come for you if you are in danger, ragazzo," my lover continued. "You are not alone anymore."

"Santino is right. You are not alone, child," I heard Marius say. I turned to look at him, swallowing my tears and trying to calm myself. It was just too much... I had always expected my lover to come; I had never doubted it, even though I had believed myself to be in Rome... I had always been certain that he would come for me. But Marius I had never believed would come... And Pandora, so dear to me now that I had gotten to know her better... And Lestat, my dark brother had come too...

"I thought... I knew you'd come...," I said, the tears coming back in a rush. This was just too much... "This is not a dream, is it?" I asked, looking from Santino to my maker. "You are really here, and Lestat is gone, but he was here too... And Pandora..."

"Calm yourself, ragazzo," my lover said, cupping my chin in his hand. "You are safe now, and you are not dreaming." I nodded, the tears rolling down my cheeks, though.

"I'm sorry..."

"Don't cry," Santino said softly, gently brushing my tears away with his thumbs. "We will take you back home..." he trailed off, looking at Marius, and I could guess that they were communicating silently. "We should be going," Santino finally said.

Marius nodded slowly. "Yes. It's time," he said simply.

"What is going on?" I asked. "Why is it time now and not before? Why did Lestat leave?" The images suddenly came tumbling to my mind. The woman in the red dress with the long dark brown hair and the green eyes... The traitor! And she was talking on the phone and she was pleading with the other woman... "It was her!" I exclaimed, trembling when the sounds of Benji and Sybelle's agonizing screams filled my mind. "It was her... Damned witch! Oh God... I don't want to hear their screams... I can't bear it..."

"Amadeo, listen to me..." Santino was framing my face in his hands, and peering into my eyes. "Merrick will be punished for what she has done. Everything is being taken care of by Lestat and Pandora."

I let out a shaky breath, struggling to calm myself. Benji and Sybelle were dead, and that damned woman had been responsible... She had sacrificed them! I felt rage and despair, but the worst of it were their screams. I closed my eyes, still trying to get a grip of myself, and I felt Santino pulling me close again.

"I wish... I had been able to help them... but those damned Talamascans drugged me..." I was trembling.

"There was nothing you could have done, Amadeo," Santino said quietly, his hands rubbing my back soothingly. "Those mortals knew what to do to render you unconscious. They just knew too much about us, but they will not be able to hurt you anymore."

Santino was now talking to my mind and I was slowly calming. It was so good to be in his arms and not alone in that cell. "I saw... I saw Allesandra," I whispered. "That woman..."

"She is dead, ragazzo." Santino looked over at Marius and then back to me. "Pandora and I killed the elders, and Lestat set the motherhouse on fire. There is nothing but ashes there now."

"Santino... I see no need to tell him those things now," Marius intervened. I could feel the tension between my lover and my maker, but it wasn't as bad as usual. It made me wonder...

"He needs to know that those who dared attack him are dead," Santino stated, his dark eyes fixed on Marius.

"It was unfortunate that so many mortals had to die," Marius said, holding my lover's gaze. I was starting to feel anxious about the outcome of this conversation. The Talamascans were dead, and this had happened when they had rescued me. Was Marius resenting me for it?

"No, ragazzo. Marius would never resent you for those mortals' deaths," Santino said softly. He had obviously read my mind and was trying to calm me. I looked at him for some moments and then turned to Marius. My maker was looking at me, and I could see a mixture of surprise and something like guilt in his eyes. I didn't ask, all I needed was to wait for him to speak. He had come for me, and that alone had been more than he had given me in the past. But was he having second thoughts?

"I could never resent you, Amadeo," he finally said, glancing briefly at Santino before looking back at me. "I care for you child, and I wish I had been able to prevent this that happened to you."

"But you would have preferred not to have to kill the mortals..." I could feel Santino's silent support, adding to the feeling of his arms around my waist. My lover was tense, and Marius was no better, and this was all because of me.

Marius extended a hand and caressed my cheek tenderly. "Taking you out was more important for me, Amadeo. Those mortals hurt you, and killed Benji and Sybelle, and they have already faced the consequences of their foolishness. What we did, it had to be done."

I nodded, saying nothing. I was feeling incredibly tired and even drowsy. I leaned against Santino, and my lover gathered me closer. ::Sleep,:: I could hear his voice in my mind. He was speaking to Marius, and I could feel the tension between them. But my eyes were closing, and I was falling asleep in my lover's arms.

 

***

_Santino_

There were times when I really felt bad about setting Marius afire and destroying his life five centuries ago. Actually the guilt about it was a normal feeling for me when looking at him, although it had lessened somewhat over the last few years. He had never mentioned it to me, but neither had he granted his forgiveness, so I was left to wonder just where I stood with him.

But right now I did not feel any guilt at all; quite the contrary. It annoyed me that he had to voice his regrets over what we had done, and that he had managed to make Armand feel bad about it. The Roman definitely needed to learn when to keep his mouth shut.

That he regretted partaking in what could qualify as a massacre was not the important thing, it was that Armand had noticed. I didn't care about the fate of the Talamascans, but if Marius wanted to worry about them, then he had my blessings to do so. As long as he did not bring one of them home and make him a fledgling, that was. Three Talamascans in our rows was more than enough, a fourth definitely would not be tolerated. Jesse was acceptable, and we all knew that her loyalties lay with the Great Family rather than the scholars. But the other two had turned out to be a danger to us all. David with his insistence on publishing biographies that he had obtained by questionable means, and of course Merrick.

I was glad that Pandora and Lestat were dealing with this issue; I did not quite know how I would have reacted to seeing that traitor once again. The temptation of falling back into the old coven ways was always there, and I was not sure if I would not have given in to it. Not acceptable, of course, so I was content to leave this to Pandora and the Brat. I had other things to take care of anyway, my auburn-haired lover resting in my arms being the most important of them.

"We really should be on our way," Marius said. He did not look happy at all that it was I and not him who was holding Armand.

"Better check with Lestat if they are finished," I returned. I had no wish to arrive in the middle of an execution; it never was a pleasant sight to see one of us die, and besides, it would unsettle Armand, and that really was not necessary.

Marius seemed about to say something, but then just nodded. I could see his gaze unfocus as he called to Lestat; a distance like that was not easy to cover, and it took a lot of concentration and strength. Part of the reason why I had left it to Marius to call out. I also did not really want to speak to Lestat right now. The blond vampire and I had never been close, and considering the current circumstances I preferred to stay at a safe distance.

"He is upset," Marius said after some moments. "And he is ignoring me." Not too surprising; Lestat certainly had more important things on his mind than talking to us right now.

"I could call Pandora," I offered. With her I could at least hope that she would acknowledge me.

"Do that." Marius looked tired, and I remembered that he had to be tired too after what we had done tonight. I gave him a slightly sympathetic nod, which surprisingly earned me a smile in return. Somehow it was strange that we managed to cooperate occasionally, but only if the stress level was high enough for us to concentrate on other things.

Closing my eyes, I concentrated on Pandora, envisioned her face, her voice, how her mind would feel like if I touched it. She usually was easy to find for me, but anger and upset often clouded mental images and made them unfocus. I could only hope that she would notice that I was calling for her, and that she would answer.

::What is it?:: I suddenly heard her voice in my head, impatient and louder than strictly necessary. ::Is something wrong?::

::We want to come home,:: I projected back at her, relying more on her

strength to pick my thoughts up than on sending them myself. It was one of the advantages of talking to powerful telepaths. ::Are things settled? I have no wish to unsettle Armand.::

Pandora hesitated a bit. ::Depends on what you are expecting,:: she eventually said. ::By the time you get here, it will be safe.::

::Thank you.:: But she had already closed her mind again and did not hear my last words. It puzzled me a little that she had been so abrupt; it was absolutely unlike her. Were things not going as she had planned?

Armand was stirring in my arms, a slight frown on his forehead, and I tightened my hold on him a little. Maybe he had picked up Pandora's thoughts unconsciously, or perhaps he was just about to wake again. I had hoped that he would sleep at least through the flight, but if he woke up before, there was not much I could do about it. I did not want to put him to sleep; those Talamascans had messed enough with his mind, yet another interference would do more harm than good.

"He will need to feed again..." Marius' words startled me back into the present time. The Roman reached out to lightly brush his hand over Armand's pale cheek. He seemed so cautious, as if he were afraid that his fledgling would dissolve beneath his touch.

I nodded in agreement. "But not here. For now he has had enough, we should wait until he wakes up again."

Marius withdrew his hand again, and I felt a little amount of relief. It wasn't really jealousy over Armand - I knew that I had nothing to fear from Marius in that regard. No, it was more the physical distance that was between us again. I couldn't help feeling apprehensive if Marius got close enough to touch me, even though the rational part of my mind always assured me that I was perfectly safe. The problem was just that my instincts didn't quite want to believe it.

"Can we leave?" he asked, his tone polite and neutral. "Time is running out, and I would rather be somewhere safe before sunrise."

"We will easily make it," I told him. I knew the distance, and how long it would take me to cover it. There was enough time left to get home; even if we were delayed somehow, we should not encounter trouble easily. But I too wanted to be back in a familiar place where no mortals would intrude, and where I could let my guard down a little again.

Standing up, Marius gave me an expectant look. "Will you carry him?" he asked.

As if on cue Armand's hold on me tightened a bit, and I had to make an effort in order not to look smug about it. This was neither the time nor the place to provoke the Roman; the night had been trying for us both, and there was no way to tell how a fight right now would turn out. I was definitely not going to risk it.

Nodding, I got up too and cradled Armand in my arms. It was comforting to hold him like this; I was used to carrying him, and the slim form was familiar and also reassuring to some extent.

Marius gave me a searching look before he took to the air, vanishing from sight quickly. But I had no doubts that he would stay at my side for the flight, if only to make certain that I did not accidentally drop Armand. It was good to know that for now the Roman was caring about his fledgling, but it was also unsettling me a bit.

Hopefully this crisis would be over soon, I thought as I followed him. Once things were back to normal, Marius and I could go back to comfortably avoiding each other instead of having to operate under a shaky truce like this. It made me uncomfortable, and I was rather sure that he felt the same about it.

 

***

_Lestat_

I landed outside Santino's house. My mind was tightly shielded, though only Merrick would have been able to sense me coming. Louis and David, being my fledglings, could only hear me if I made deliberate noises to announce my presence. And I didn't want them to know I was back. I didn't want to give them time to react and try to prevent me from doing what I had to do. Merrick had to die. Any other solution to the problem she had created was unthinkable. She had betrayed us, delivering two helpless fledglings to death, and Armand had been hurt as a consequence of her actions. And she hadn't cared at all. I remembered now how she had tried to convince us not to worry about him. Even if Armand had not been part of the deal she had made with the Talamascans, and I could not be certain about this, she hadn't hesitated to try to divert our attention when it had become obvious that he might be in danger. I could not allow her to live, and I was sure that Pandora and Santino would agree with me.

Marius was a different issue. And so were Louis and David. My mentor had apparently decided not to intervene. He was probably aware that he wouldn't stand a chance against the three of us. But I was fairly sure that he would come and show his displeasure, if not with Merrick's execution, at least with the extermination of the Talamascans at the motherhouse in London. I had done something similar once, and I had paid a dreadful price for it. This time it was different. Those mortals had declared a war against us, and we had given them what they had asked.

I willed the front door open, taking care not to damage the security devices Santino had installed. And moments later I was standing in the main room of the house, facing my fledglings and Merrick. I felt a wave of anger at the sight of her, and she shrank back visibly, placing a hand on David's arm as if for protection. Something had changed in my small coven during the time we had been away. I could sense it. Somehow Merrick didn't seem to be so confident about her place within us, and she didn't seem to expect support from Louis anymore.

"What happened, Lestat?" Louis asked, taking a step towards me. He looked tense, and I could see that it would not be easy to get past him should he choose to protect Merrick. "Were you able to find Armand?" He was genuinely worried for the imp, and I could see a glimpse of the old Louis in the magnificent creature standing in front of me. My blood had not changed him in a fundamental way. He was stronger and maybe more confident than before. But he was still my Louis. Which meant that he might try to stop me anyway.

"We found him," I said, barely controlling my anger. "Those damned Talamascans had him imprisoned in a cell. They drugged him and drained him, and when we found him, Armand believed himself to be in Rome." I would have to speak to my brother when everything had passed. I needed to make sure that he was really alright, that these hallucinations had been the effect of the drugs and not some old memory that still tormented him. If he was happy with Santino I would not intervene, but I needed to have a long talk with the imp.

"Where is he now?" Louis asked, his face dark with worry. "Why did you come here alone?" Out of the corner of my eye I could see David holding Merrick. She was terrified. I could smell her fear.

"I came alone because there is a traitor in this house," I said, my eyes fixed on Merrick. "I came here to do what I must." I saw a flicker of alarm in David's eyes, and before he could try anything I moved to stand between him and Merrick. Louis made no move to stop me, but I could feel David's grip on my arm. I fought the urge to shove him away. He would not be able to stop me, anyway.

"H-he is mad!" Merrick stammered, her green eyes wide. "Don't let him come any closer, David! He wants to blame me for it all!"

"And aren't you to blame?" I asked between gritted teeth, coming closer even as David was trying to stop me. "Didn't you make a deal with those bastards and give Benji and Sybelle to them?" I heard Louis gasp in surprise.

"Lestat! That you would think that of her..." David started, but I ignored him, grabbing Merrick's arms. Louis had come to stand beside me, and I wondered if he would try to force me to let Merrick go. I shivered involuntarily at the memory of what had happened in our old apartment in New Orleans centuries ago, but I didn't loosen my grip on Merrick.

"She gave the children to them in exchange for her freedom! She wanted to stay with us, and as they would not accept, she offered Marius' fledglings as replacements!"

"That is a lie!" Merrick exclaimed. She was trembling uncontrollably in my grip, blood tears coming down her cheeks. Such a good actress... But she was afraid, at least that was true. "You can't believe him, David! Louis!" She turned to her maker now. "You know I love you, and I did what you asked... I brought Claudia back for you!"

"Is that true?" Louis asked her, his green eyes fixed on his child.

"Louis, you can't believe..." David started again. He was still grabbing my arm, and I could see his frustration at being unable to pry Merrick loose.

"Answer me, Merrick," Louis said, his voice calm. "Did you negotiate with the elders and give them Benji and Sybelle? Did you offer to give them Armand too?"

"Not Armand!" she exclaimed, struggling to free herself from my grip. "I begged them to leave us alone, but they would not listen! They said they would hunt all of us down! I had no choice but to do what I did! I did it for us!"

"Liar!" I snapped, not letting her go. "You gave the children to the Talamasca, not caring about what might happen to them. And now they are dead, and Armand is hurt." She shook her head violently, again trying to back away. It was to no avail. "Louis! Help me, Louis! You are the only one he would hear at all... Please Louis, do it for our love!"

Louis shook his head, his eyes unbearably sad as he looked at her. "You gave those fledglings to them, you killed your own kind... The same as Claudia had done... I thought it had not been her fault, and maybe I was right then. But you are a grown-up woman, and you know good from evil. I cannot help you."

"NO!! Louis please!" she screamed. "David, help me!" It all happened like in slow motion. I let go of Merrick, and she stumbled back, screaming more. David tried to place himself between us, but I shoved him back against a wall. And then I felt the invisible power leap out of me, igniting Merrick's blood. A new scream pierced the night, and she grew silent, green eyes staring at me a moment before her body burst into flames.

I could feel David sobbing, and I could feel Louis' eyes on me. I turned to look at him, and only then I realized that Pandora had arrived at the house. She looked grim, but she nodded with satisfaction at the sight of Merrick's ashes. I had felt Marius' mind touch some moments ago, and I vaguely wondered why the others were not here too. But I had no time to think about this now. I was shaking after having exerted all my power to do this fast. Even though I could care less about Merrick's suffering, I knew that my fledglings loved her. Now it was done and I was ready for their judgement.

David was not even looking at me. He was sobbing quietly against the wall, his face soaked in blood from his tears. Louis was standing beside me, his eyes fixed on the greasy stain on the floor. Merrick's red silk dress was there, scorched and blackened by the heat that had radiated from her owner's body. I turned to look at Louis, our eyes meeting for some moments before he averted his gaze. I could feel Pandora's eyes on me, a silent witness to what had just happened here. I turned to David again, only to see him standing and leaving the house in a blur. At least I knew what to expect from him. But Louis...

He was still looking away, and I waited for unending seconds for him to look back at me. His face was partially shaded by his long silky black hair, and I could see a suspicious dampness in his eyelashes. My heart sank in my chest, not only because I knew I had hurt him... them... but because I was sure now that I would not be forgiven. Even if Louis had deserted his child, disgusted by the evil in her, he would not easily forget that I had been the executioner.

"I am sorry, Louis," I said softly, unable to move closer to him. I was afraid to see the hatred in his eyes, to realize that the love he might have still felt for me had been swept away by what I had just done. But I had had no choice. Louis didn't answer, and I could see a single tear rolling down his pale cheek. He was crying for her... "Alright, Louis. I understand."

I closed my eyes, trying to gather my strength before leaving the house. I had lost him again, and this time I couldn't even be sorry for what I had done. Merrick couldn't have lived. She had stolen the blood, casting a spell over my fledglings to get what she craved. And then she had given her own kind to the Talamascans. I had given her my blood to make her stronger for Louis, but I couldn't allow such a creature to walk among us. I left the house, not caring to look at Louis or Pandora one more time. It hurt too much.

Turning my back on my beloved Louis, I looked at Pandora. "Take care of Armand... I... I do care for him." She seemed about to say something, but I shook my head and moments later I was out of the house. I took to the air, flying as high as I could, not caring that my body was cooling and that it was getting difficult to keep going up. Even for us vampires there is a limit and I was somehow about to reach it. I wondered if I could leave the earth, if the invisible net that had all of us caught would allow me to drift into space. But my mad flight was already being stopped, and I was falling down, not caring at all about what would happen to me. I knew I wouldn't die. I let my body plummet down for some time, and then I willed it to stop, closing my eyes and letting myself drift. My mind was calming, and the pain was settling more heavily in my chest. I welcomed it. Maybe it was time for me to sleep again.

"Lestat..." I opened my eyes to see Louis hovering around me. For a moment I stared at him, wondering how on earth he had managed to follow me here. And then I remembered that I had given him my blood, and that now he was strong enough to fly. Why had he come? My heart was racing with the many possibilities, but I dared not hope. Maybe he had come to try to do away with me. It would be just one more of many attempts. "Lestat, you gave me a fright," he whispered, and I could see that he was trembling. I signaled for him to go down before doing the same. Soon we were both standing in a dark alley in some city in Tuscany.

"Why did you follow me?" I asked, being careful not too sound too harsh. I was starting to feel angry that he always chose to desert me, to try to end my life. But that was my Louis, wasn't he? And I loved him.

"I want to stay with you, Lestat," he said, a trace of uncertainty in his beautiful green eyes. "If you would allow me to stay." I froze. Had I died and somehow gone to Heaven? Or maybe this was one of Memnoch's horrible jokes. "I love you, Lestat," he said somewhat timidly, but then his hands came to my face, and the same he had done in our house in Canada, he kissed me softly. I gave into the kiss, still wondering if this was reality or not. But then I slipped my arms around his body and held him close, and I knew that this really was Louis in my arms.

"I love you, my Louis," I said hoarsely, our lips touching as I spoke these words. "I wish there had been another way..."

He shook his head. "You were right, Lestat. She was set to destroy us." He paused, and I could see a mixture of pain and determination in his eyes. "She could not live," he finally said.

"Let us leave here," I said. "Let us find a quiet place to be alone." Louis nodded, and he came into my arms, waiting for me to lead the way. Now that he could fly, this was a not only a gesture of trust but one of love. I kissed his hair and holding him close I took to the air. I was trying not to think that David had left us, that I might have to explain the slaughter to the twins. Maybe they would understand and leave me alone, or maybe they wouldn't care. All that mattered now was that I had Louis with me, and that we might have a new opportunity to be together.

 

***

_Pandora_

Lestat had my deepest sympathy when he left the house with neither Louis nor David making any move to stop him. I couldn't understand those fledglings, neither the angry Talamascan nor beautiful Louis. Why couldn't they comprehend that what had just taken place had been necessary? It was a mere matter of protecting ourselves, of eliminating a dangerous being that would have delivered us all into the hands of our enemies. It had differed in no way from killing those who had wanted to get near the Mother. Back then I had seen the necessity of it, and I also saw it now. But it seemed that the young ones could not understand.

But Lestat had seen it, and he had done what had to be done. And now his fledglings despised him, despite the fact that he had done it also to protect them, to prevent them from having to suffer the fate of Benji and Sybelle, or of Armand. Fulfilling a duty could be a punishment, an ungrateful task; I had seen Marius bear such a burden, and now Lestat.

That David had left was not something I cared about. Apart from that meeting we had had in Paris, I had never really taken notice of him. I still was not sure whether he had tricked me into writing my autobiography or not, but that did not increase my interest in him. He was a young one, and it would have to be seen if he would be around still in two centuries. I had no intention to busy myself with thoughts about him right now.

Louis was a different matter. He would endure, we all knew this even though his attempt at killing himself had shaken this belief somewhat. But he had not succeeded, and that meant that he had not really tried. A vampire of his age died easily if he was serious enough about it. And now he had drunk Lestat's blood once again, had received whatever strength Marius' beloved Brat Prince was able to pass on.

It seemed that with the increase in power Louis had also gained some more common sense than he had had before. Of course my comparison was from a very subjective point of view; I had never paid much attention to Louis, but I had heard what others had been thinking about him when we all had been on the Night Island together. I had been silent then - incomprehensible for me now - but I had listened to the others, had formed my own opinions based on theirs. Some had thought of Louis as a tormented dreamer, insecure and vulnerable, and I had found myself agreeing with them.

Therefore I had expected him to stay, and to brood in the wake of Lestat's leaving before taking off to parts unknown and disappearing once again. But he had not done that, not at all. He had just looked at me for a moment, a silent question in his eyes as his gaze had met mine.

::Do you love him?:: I had asked him, trying to be gentle. ::Because if you don't go after him now, he will think that you don't.::

That was all it had taken to get Louis moving. He had looked at the little heap of ashes that had once been Merrick, and I tactfully remained from uttering any of the biting comments that were dancing on the tip of my tongue. She had been his fledgling after all, and fledglings are never made without love. Even though this love had been brought along by forces that should be left alone.

Only a second to look at those ashes, then he had turned around and had left the house. I had heard the careful click of the front door as he closed it, and then there was silence, physical and mental.

It made me smile with satisfaction to think that Merrick had truly lost everything, life and love, with her treason. Louis had chosen Lestat over her, as he was supposed to do. Apparently the dreamer had a firmer grip on reality than some of us credited him with. He was just hiding it well sometimes.

A quiet laugh escaped me, and I spun around, sending my hair flying like a wide, pretty dress as I whirled around the room. My mirth at the young ones and my relief that all this was over were welcome feelings, and I let them control me willingly, loving their blinding brightness. I closed my eyes, concentrated on the air that caressed my skin with tender brushes.

Once I had calmed again, I could only shake my head at this juvenile behavior, but there was no denying that it had felt good to let loose, even if it had only been for a moment. The tension that had ruled my life for the last two nights was gone, and it was so good to be able to breathe freely again after all that we had done.

My gaze fell on the ashes on the floor, a neat little heap that had no resemblance at all to what it had been before. It felt good to see it, to have the proof here that the danger in our rows had been eliminated. But Armand probably was not going to like it much to be reminded of those things, and I knew how peculiar Santino could be about dirt in his home, so it would be better to do away with it.

The front door opened at the silent command of my mind. I did not agree with Marius that our powers should not be used too often in order to keep us human. Why should we have the abilities to read minds, to move things if we did not make use of it? They were part of the vampiric nature, and I was not going to deny them. Dimly I remembered times when they had frightened me, but those had been times when I had lost myself.

Slowly the ashes gathered together, then moved towards the open door, and no dirty spots were left behind. The grayish-black powder looked almost like a troop of ants as it hovered through the hallway; once it had crossed the threshold I made it raise into the air and then released it, trusting the wind to scatter it all. Maybe it was merciful to do so, to set her soul free by this simple ceremony. I did not know, and I did not care. It just seemed the right thing to do.

Then there was nothing left for me but to wait for Marius and Santino to arrive with Armand. Santino had spoken to me just as Lestat had stormed out of the room, and he had let me know that they already were on the way. He had seemed eager to return back home; understandable after all that had happened. Armand surely would be glad too to be back in a familiar place. I hoped that he would get over this quickly and that no scars would remain. He was strong, had to be after having lived for so long already, so I had faith that he would get over it in time.

I spent the time examining the overgrown garden that surrounded the house. Neither Armand nor Santino seemed to pay much attention to it, but that did not surprise me much. Imagining those two tending to a garden was something that simply did not fit. They clearly cared about the house, but around it the plants were growing wild, slowly breaking out of the confinements of the beds. Different from Marius' carefully tended garden, but nevertheless appealing in its own way.

Somebody touched my shoulder, and I couldn't help flinching a little from surprise, but calmed almost immediately. Only two persons were on this earth who could possibly sneak up on me without alerting me, and only one of them had a reason to be here right now.

"Lestat has left," I said quietly, not turning around. I did not want to see how Marius would react to it. There was no reason for me to really be jealous of the Brat, but he had been the center of Marius' attention when I had apparently been forgotten. Those times might repeat themselves if Marius thought that Lestat needed him more than I did.

His arms came around me and pulled me close, his body a reassuring solidness behind me. "I know. I have spoken to him, and Louis is with him," he said calmly.

"And?" I prompted, not quite sure yet what to think.

"And I believe that they will do well on their own."

There were times when I could almost think that Marius might be able to read my thoughts. "I hope they will." Leaning back a little, I made myself comfortable in his arms. "And what about Armand and Santino? Are they here already?"

"Yes, they are here. Armand is asleep still, so Santino has taken him inside." There was an undercurrent of worry in Marius' voice as he said this.

"You know that Armand is too tough than to let this get to him," I reassured him quietly. "He just needs to rest and recover his strength."

Marius kissed the top of my head lightly. "You are right."

"How kind of you to admit it," I replied, making sure that the tone of my voice was light enough to make it clear to him that I wasn't implying anything with it. This wasn't the time for fighting, or even teasing, no matter how much I occasionally itched to do it. Too much had happened, and I was still trying to make sense of some bits. And it probably was the same for Marius, if not worse. I probably should be kind to him for a while.

His hold on me tightened slightly. "Will you be staying here?" he asked.

I thought about it for a moment, then shook my head. "No. They need to be alone right now, and I don't want to disturb them." Which of course did not mean that I would not keep an eye on them.

"So what will you do?" he continued with his questions. For a moment I felt puzzled by this one; didn't he know that I was going to come back with him?

But maybe he really was not sure about it... there had been some tension between us during this ordeal that might have given him the idea that I could have the wish to leave. A silly thought, but Marius was not always as logical as he pretended to be. Still, secretly it pleased me to some extent to know that he did not take me for granted.

"Well, we already are in Italy... I was thinking of returning home once again."

A moment of silence, and I could practically hear him try and puzzle this one out. "You mean to Rome?" he said eventually.

I smiled. "Yes, to Rome. I haven't been there for more than two hundred years, and it might be nice to see the city once more. And even nicer to have company..." I trailed off, waiting for him to take the hint.

"Rome?" he repeated, then shifted his hold on me a little to make me turn around. I saw the thoughtful expression on his face, and wondered whether he really had to consider this or if something else was on his mind. Maybe he was thinking about his dead fledglings... they were one of the reasons why I did not want to return to our current home, and I hoped that Marius would think the same.

"Rome," I confirmed.

Marius nodded. "I like the idea," he said, and the hint of a smile crossed his face before he bowed his head a little to kiss me.

 

***

_Armand_

I woke to feel the softness of silken sheets surrounding my body. Nothing like the rough walls and cold ground that had been my resting place for the last nights. And I was not alone. I could feel another heartbeat close, strong arms surrounding me, the familiar scent of my lover inundating my senses. I trembled, unsure if this was reality or not. What if this was a new hallucination and I woke to find myself in the same cell where my captors had kept me? I had seen ghosts; they had tormented me during those nights. And I had seen Allesandra...

"Santino..." I called softly, almost afraid to hear the witch's voice... or Allesandra's... I dared not open my eyes for fear to find that my senses had once again deceived me. I had dreamt of Santino every night in those minutes before dusk when the death sleep starts to lift from us like a heavy blanket. I had believed myself safe in his arms, but I had always woken to find myself still imprisoned in that cell.

"I am here, ragazzo..." I heard Santino's voice. My heart leapt in my chest. The arms around me tightened slightly, and a gentle hand was touching my cheek. I almost opened my eyes, but I was still afraid. "We are home, Amadeo," Santino insisted quietly, long fingers stroking my hair in a familiar motion. "You are safe."

I moved even closer to him, a hand clutching at his shirt, inhaling deeply and trying to confirm the solidness of my lover's body. To my relief Santino didn't dissolve at my touch. He was here, and I could feel the warmth radiating from his body. And the sound of his heartbeat was soothing for my strained nerves. I opened my eyes slowly and looked at him.

"Santo... Oh God... You are really here..." I was still clutching at his shirt, but I forced myself to loosen my grip. I let my hand rest on his chest, though, needed the contact. "Santino..." I could not do anything but repeat his name and look at him in wonder. I had feared that the rescue had been a dream, that after seeing all my loved ones come for me I would wake in the cell and realize that it had only been a dream. That I was still trapped in that nightmare...

"This is no dream, Amadeo," my lover said gently. "We all came for you because we care for you." His hand reached for my face, his fingers caressing my cheek lovingly. I let out a shaky breath, trying to hold back the tears.

"I always knew... that you would come," I whispered. "I was sure... you would come..." I closed my eyes when the tears finally started to roll down my cheeks. I buried my face against his chest, letting out all the anguish that was starting to choke me. I tried still to hold the tears at bay, but it seemed impossible, and soon I was sobbing in Santino's arms, clutching desperately at him. My lover was talking directly to my mind now, saying that I should not be afraid, that those who had hurt me were already dead, that they would not be able to harm me again. Little by little I calmed down, and finally I lay exhausted in his arms.

Santino was holding me close, his hands still stroking my hair, my back, his mind touch calming me further. It was like a dream to be in his arms, to know that I was back at home and not in those damned Talamascans' hands. Santino had said that they were dead, and only now I realized the immensity of what had happened tonight. They had declared war on us, and my lover and the others had given the mortals what they had asked for. Even Marius had come for me... for the first time in five hundred years he had come... And Pandora, my dear Pandora had come too. And so had Lestat, my beloved dark brother. I had been sure that my lover would come for me, but the others...

"They all care for you, Amadeo," Santino said, kissing my forehead and brushing the tears off my face gently. "My Amadeo... I wish I had been able to prevent this from happening, but you are safe now. You must not fear those mortals hurting you again."

"They killed Benji and Sybelle... if I had been more careful..."

"It was not your fault, Amadeo," Santino said in a firm voice. "There was no way you could have prevented what happened. They knew were to find you, and for that Merrick was to blame." I looked at him in silence, trying to understand what he was telling me. Louis' fledgling had betrayed us? It came suddenly to me then, the memories of what I had seen in the old witch's mind... and then I saw myself giving them all this information. I could remember it now, though I knew that I had not been really aware of doing it then. The memories had just come and I had projected them.

"You are right..." I said softly, still leaning against his chest. "I had... forgotten... I think they drugged me during the day... and maybe drained me... It was all so unreal, Santo. I saw so many things, remembered so many things." I shivered slightly, moving even closer to him. "I saw those ghosts again..." I could feel the anger rising in Santino's chest at my words, but it was gone almost at once.

"They have already paid for what they did to you and the children," he said. "We cannot do anything more for them."

"I know... Poor things... They were so young still. I know that they might not have survived, but still I had the hope..." I sighed softly. I was calmer, but I was starting to feel sad as well. "I feel responsible. I was selfish enough to bring them close to us, and then left them in Marius' care. I know it cannot be changed, but I can't help but feeling like this."

"You didn't ask Marius to make them, Amadeo," my lover said, a hand stroking my hair gently. It was so soothing to feel his fingers running through my hair, slowly massaging my scalp until all the remaining tension had left my body. "You left the children in his care. I would have expected Marius to show a little more restraint..."

I still wasn't convinced that I was completely innocent in Benji and Sybelle's fate. If not for their terrible death, at least for bringing them into danger. I had not realized that my maker, even though a wise and ancient being, was a vampire still. And a man... a man who had meant well, but who had made a terrible mistake when he had brought them through. Marius had done this for me, to provide me with eternal companions, companions I had not wanted to take with me. He had misunderstood my feelings for them, and this was the tragic ending to the tale.

"He made a mistake, that is true," I conceded. "Some fledglings should never be made. They are bound to end badly, like Nicki, Lestat's mortal lover. Or Claudia... Too young for her human soul to survive the process... Benji was older, but too young still to condemn him to live on mortal blood. And Sybelle... Sybelle was mad in a very particular way. She would have ended badly, just like Nicki."

"Those who have an obsession when mortals are not fit to be one of us," Santino said quietly. "Their obsession gets worse, consuming them even as they strive to cope with immortality. She was not fit for this life, ragazzo, and neither was the boy."

"You are right. I hope their souls have found the way to wherever we go after we die... Not the Heaven Lestat described in his tale I hope... That would be almost frightening..."

"Don't think about it now, ragazzo," Santino said, caressing my cheek with his thumb. "Wherever they are, they are past all pain now. Their deaths have been avenged."

I nodded, taking his hand in mine and planting a kiss on his palm before leaning again into his touch. Santino made me feel so safe and loved... I had never felt like this in all my life, not even in the happy years with Marius. There had been love, but there had been uncertainty and fear too. And then, when Santino had introduced me into his coven, there had been no place for fear or love, though now I knew that I had loved him then... It was different now. We had met again as the twentieth century died, and love had surged between us, and we had left Marius' house and come here together.

"I love you," I whispered, burying a hand in his hair, getting rid of the elastic band with a practiced move. "Thank you for all you did tonight."

 

***

_Santino_

"I can't understand where she gets all that energy from," I said as I gratefully settled down in an armchair and closed my eyes for a few precious peaceful moments. Despite everything that had ever been said about our powers increasing with age, I felt more exhausted than I ever had been as a newborn fledgling.

An agreeing murmur came from the couch, the words not quite intelligible since Armand had his face buried against one of the cushions. He had stretched out on his belly, body completely limp as he simply lay there without moving at all. I felt a strong inclination to do the same for some hours, or maybe even some days, until I was more like myself again.

The chair was comfortable, and I caught myself drifting off to sleep. Blinking didn't seem like a good idea right now, it was hard to open my eyes again. We couldn't stay here in the parlor for the day, that just wasn't safe... perhaps it would be better if we retired to the bedroom now. It was not that late yet, but I knew that I was not going to be able to stay awake as long as usual tonight. And Armand looked as if he were going to drift off any moment now.

"Ragazzo..." I called him quietly as I left the armchair again before it truly became too tempting. "We should go to bed..."

This got me another murmur as a reaction, then Armand shifted slightly and curled up on his side. Sleepily he blinked at me for a moment, frowned a little and closed his eyes again.

"Amadeo, you can't rest here," I insisted, even though I sympathized completely with him.

He raised his head wearily. "Why not?" he asked, his voice slurred with sleepiness.

"You know why," I told him, coming over to the couch and gathering him up in my arms. Armand didn't protest at all, he merely moved a little to make himself comfortable, then rested his head against my shoulder.

"The next time Pandora wants to visit, we won't be available," he declared, stifling a yawn as he closed his eyes once more.

"Or we simply insist on not doing so many things." The only problem with that was that it was hard to deny Pandora anything if she used that particular Look. I had no problems to imagine that she had Marius wrapped around her finger if she did as much as bat her eyes at him.

"We can try..." Armand murmured, turning his head to bury his face against my shoulder. I took this as a signal that he wasn't going to contribute much more to the conversation. He would probably be more awake next night.

"Yes, we can," I agreed aloud nevertheless, though I did not expect an answer and did not get one either. Armand's breathing had evened out, and it did not take much to see that he had blissfully drifted off once again.

He deserved the rest, I thought as I carried him to our room and settled him down on the bed. Pandora had dared him push his limits a lot during the last nights. She had meant well, we all knew that, and she had also temporarily succeeded in making Armand forget completely about his abduction by the Talamasca and the deaths of the children. But her constant challenges had tired him, and me. It was not the feeling of being drained that came when vampires did not feed properly, but true physical exhaustion.

Well, we had time to rest now that Pandora had left again. I regretted it a little that she had not stayed for longer; she was a close friend, and it was good to see her awake and so vividly alive. But I knew that she had mainly wanted to see how Armand was doing, and that she had been missing Marius. Somehow it was amazing that those two still managed to live together without driving each other crazy.

Armand again mumbled something unintelligible while I took off his clothes and exchanged them for his pajamas so he wouldn't be cold when waking up in the evening. The heating was turned up comparatively high, but the winter air outside had an effect on the room temperatures anyway.

Carefully I tucked him in before proceeding to make sure that the room was secure for the day. Only the door had to be locked, since the shutters were still in place anyway. Neither of us had gotten around to opening them in the evening. I turned the key by hand this time; normally I would have done it with my mind, but tonight I doubted that I could do as much as move around dust telekinetically.

"Santino?" Armand had sat up in bed, blankets pooling in his lap. He looked at me with wide brown eyes, appearing younger than he usually did. The tiredness was gone at a sudden, and he seemed as alert as always. "You will stay here, no?"

I gave him what I hoped was a reassuring smile, inwardly frowning at myself for having made him uneasy. I should have known that he might suspect that I would leave the room once I had tucked him in. Not that I had done that more than once or twice in all the time we had been together... But if there was any after-effect of what the Talamascans had done to him, then it was an insecurity that tended to surface unexpectedly.

"Of course, ragazzo," I answered, then switched to mind speech to assure him further. ::You know that I would not leave. Just lie down, I will be with you in a moment.::

A slightly hesitant nod, then Armand followed my suggestion and settled down again, wrapping himself tightly in the blanket as he did. "I don't really think that you would leave," he said quietly. "But for a moment I just wasn't sure..." With a frustrated expression on his face, he hit the pillow with a fist to bunch it up beneath his head.

I said nothing in reply, merely undressed as well and slid beneath the sheets to offer comfort by being close. Those occasional moments doubts were unsettling, for him as well as for me, but we were both learning how to deal with them. And they were far less frequent now than they had been during the nights directly after the Talamascans' attack.

After switching off the lights I lay down too, allowing myself a moment of absolute peace and quietness without thinking about anything at all. So good... tiredness returned as soon as my head touched the pillow, but I didn't allow myself to drift off yet, not without making sure that no nightmares would invade our rest. Over the years I had learned some tricks to keep Armand from having bad dreams, and the knowledge was coming in handy now.

There was a soft rustling of the sheets to be heard, just before I felt my lover's slim body close to mine as Armand made himself comfortable in my arms, his head pillowed on my shoulder. A hand touched my cheek before moving on. The ribbon I used to hold my hair in a ponytail was suddenly loosened and taken away completely; a barely audible thud from somewhere in the darkness was an indication of the general direction where Armand had tossed it this time.

"I don't understand why you insist on those ribbons," he said, and I could easily imagine the light frown on his face. "Far better like this..."

His infatuation with my hair was something I didn't quite comprehend, but I was not going to argue about it with him. It was an almost infallible way to calm him down, and it was working this time as well. I felt him relax further as I turned my head to place a fleeting kiss on his forehead; with a content sigh Armand nestled closer, his hold on me tightening a little.

"Pandora must have gotten home by now," came the quiet statement from him, out of the blue. "She was missing Marius, wasn't she?"

I nodded, then remembered that the gesture was invisible in the complete darkness that surrounded us. "Yes, she missed him," I agreed.

"I could tell that she didn't like to be separated from him." A thoughtful pause followed, giving me a moment to try and figure out where this talk was headed. "And still she came here to check on me."

"You know that she cares about you, ragazzo."

He raised his head from my shoulder, and I could feel his gaze lingering on me. "I know now. I couldn't doubt it any longer, not after what she has done for me. And Marius and Lestat..." Armand hesitated for a moment. "I was never sure whether they cared. But they all came when I needed them."

There was nothing I could think of to say in return. I knew that this was an important issue for him, and that the help from the others meant more to him than they probably could imagine. With all that had happened in the past, my lover had never been able to truly rely on someone to be there for him if necessary. But that had changed now, he had proof that others cared for him. He had told me that he had never doubted that I would come to rescue him; the surprise had been to see Pandora, Lestat and Marius there too.

Armand settled down in my arms again. "I would like to talk to Marius," he said softly. "I need to make sure that he understands I am grateful." A fleeting kiss was placed on my cheek. "It was strange to see him there too."

"He is your maker," I answered in the same quiet tone, hoping that Armand would not remember right now that the Roman had abandoned him to his fate on previous occasions. Marius had made mistakes in the past, but this time he had redeemed himself a little.

"Yes, he is my maker," Armand agreed. "And it seems that despite everything he has not forgotten about me."

"I don't think he ever could." I gathered him closer, smiling when I felt fingers reaching for a strand of my hair. "We can pay them a visit whenever you want, ragazzo. If you want me to come with you, that is..." I wasn't exactly looking forward to seeing Marius, but my love for Armand outweighed my dislike for the Roman by far.

"Of course I want that." There was a hint of amusement in Armand's voice. "Someone has to entertain Pandora while Marius and I talk..."

"You have it all planned, it seems," I replied, smiling a little.

"Mhm... yes..." Armand stifled a yawn as he shifted a little to make himself more comfortable. "Of course I have a plan... but I'll tell you about that later, when thinking gets easier again..."

"Agreed. Sleep well, ragazzo."

"You too..." he murmured quietly. We shared a last tired kiss, and soon I sensed his breathing become even as he drifted off.

"Love you," I whispered into the darkness, and then I closed my eyes to join my lover in his dreams.


End file.
